Pictured: Rosanne Hodge in action on the final day of the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica on Saturday where the East Londoner clinched the silver medal for South Africa

Photo: Sanchez / ISA

Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
August 1-8, 2009
Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Rosanne Hodge was the star of the South African surfing team at the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica when she grabbed the silver medal in the Grand Final of the Women’s division on Saturday.

Team South Africa, supported by a grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), narrowly missed out on three further medals in the team event, Open men and Aloha Cup competitions, finishing in fifth place in each category.

Team USA cruised to victory in the team event, their first team gold medal since the corresponding event in California in 1996, with France confirming the emergence of Europe as a surfing power by taking silver, defending team champions Australia slipping to third and Hawaii clinching the copper medal just ahead of South Africa. This was a two place improvement by the SA team who placed seventh in the corresponding event in Portugal last year.

Hodge (East London) started the final day confidently, posting rides of 6.20 and 7.0 out of 10 to win her heat in Round 5 of the Qualifying stream and advance directly into the Women’s Grand Final along with second placed Sage Ericson (USA). The pair was joined by ASP World Junior Champion Pauline Ado (FRA) and the in-form Courtney Conlogue (USA), winner of the US Open Surfing event in California two weeks back, who advanced from the Repecharge rounds.

The 25 minute final saw Hodge lead early on before Conlogue took control with 18 minutes remaining by recording rides of 5.60 and then 7.0 points. Hodge fought her way back into contention with a 5.56 but the American clinched the gold with an excellent 8.20 with four minutes on the clock, leaving Hodge needing a near perfect ride of 9.64 and Ericson and Ado needing to improve on both their rides.

Hodge’s silver medal was one better than her bronze in the 2006 ISA World Surfing Games in California in 2006, the last time SA’s sole contender on the ASP Women’s World Tour represented her country.

Brandon Jackson came within one place of medal in his first ISA World Surfing Games when he finished fifth overall in the Open Men’s division. The 22-year-old from Durban North fought his way through to the last four in the Repecharge rounds before slipping to third spot behind Jeremy Flores (FRA) and Ben Bourgeois (USA).

Flores, the current ASP No. 16, went on to win the gold medal, finishing ahead of Cory Lopez (USA) and Gabriel Villaran (PER), who had advanced from the Qualifying stream, with Bourgeois in fourth.

The Longboard title was won by Antoine Delpero (FRA) who relegated Harley Ingleby (AUS) to second place with Ben Skinner (UK) and Tony Silvagni (USA) taking third and fourth. Justin Bing (Noordhoek) was SA’s top finisher in equal ninth spot with Michael Hill (St Francis Bay) ending equal 15^th.

Team SA narrowly missed out on the final of the Aloha Cup tag team event when they ended third in their semi-final on Friday. Australia went on to win the final, their only gold medal of the event, with France, Peru and Tahiti taking silver, bronze and copper respectively.

Video highlights, photos, news and full results of the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica can be found at www.billabongpro.com/isa09

Billabong ISA World Surfing Games

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Team Results:
Gold – United States – 14910 points
Silver – France – 13280 points
Bronze – Australia – 10996 points
Copper – Hawaii – 10856 points

South Africa: 5^th – 10666 points

Open Men
Gold: Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Silver: Cory Lopez (USA)
Bronze: Gabriel Villarán (PER)
Copper: Ben Bourgeois (USA)

South Africans:
Brandon Jackson – 5th
Rudy Palmboom Jnr. – 29th
Ryan Payne – 33rd
Damien Fahrenfort – 49th

Open Women
Gold: Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Silver: Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
Bronze: Sage Erickson (USA)
Copper: Pauline Ado (FRA) 

South Africans:
Nikita Robb – 8th 


Longboard 

Gold: Antoine Delpero (FRA)
Silver: Harley Ingleby (AUS)
Bronze: Ben Skinner (GBR)
Copper: Tony Silvagni (USA)

South Africans:
Justin Bing – 9th
Michael Hill – 15th Aloha Cup
Gold: Australia
Silver: France
Bronze: Peru
Copper: Tahiti

South Africa – Equal 5th

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1 – USA – 14910 points
2 – France – 13280 points
3 – Australia – 10996 points
4 – Hawaii – 10856 points
5 – South Africa – 10666 points
6 – Peru – 10180 points
7 – Costa Rica – 9650 points
8 – Venezuela – 9040 points
9 – Brazil – 9000 points
10 – Puerto Rico – 8820 points
11 – New Zealand – 8100 points
12 – Argentina – 7160 points
13 – Tahiti – 6688 points
14 – Ecuador – 6170 points
15 – Panama – 5952 points
16 – Italy – 5670 points
17 – Mexico – 5560 points
18 – Japan – 5324 points
19 – Chile – 5208 points
20 – El Salvador – 4784 points
21 – Ireland – 4568 points
22 – Austria – 4320 points
23 – Barbados – 4128 points
24 – Germany – 4024 points
25 – UK- 3810 points
26 – Guatemala – 3696 points
27 – Switzerland – 3440 points
28 – Jamaica – 2912 points
29 – Canada – 2784 points
30 – Nicaragua – 2656 points
31 – Colombia 2544 points
32 – Trinidad & Tobago – 2240 points
33 – Bahamas 2240 points
34 – Rep. Dominican – 1680 points
35 – Aruba- 384 points

About Surfing South Africa (SSA)

Surfing South Africa is recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the International Surfing Association (ISA) as the governing body for surfriding in South Africa.

 Six provincial organisations and three national associations are affiliated to Surfing South Africa which coordinates and manages all aspects of surfriding from grass roots level through to the selection of National teams.

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding.  It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running World Championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.

 /ends

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa
Contact:  Robin de Kock
Email: surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

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