Rip Curl GromSearch International Final Covered By Sun Bum Kicks Off With A Search Mission
The Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024, covered by Sun Bum kicked off on Tuesday, November 12th with finalists winning through from participating countries across the surfing globe to come together to showcase the future of surfing. Proceedings began with a vibrant traditional Balinese opening ceremony, followed by the athletes were presented with custom rash vests, each featuring their name on the back.
Day 1 of the event (Wednesday, November 13th) started with an early Search mission to find uncrowded waves for the opening seeding round. The day was a success delivering 2-3 foot, bowly right-handers with an uncrowded line-up. Event Director Harrison Mann decided it was the perfect opportunity to run the seeding round as a non-elimination round, with two 4-person heats per division to determine the seedings for Round 1. Athletes were scored based on their best wave.
“It was definitely worth the gamble today," said Harrison Mann. "We scored some super fun waves with no one around. The standard of surfing was insane, and today was just a sneak peek of the fireworks we have in store for Friday and Saturday at Pererenan Beach.”
Judging the seeding round was panel of surfing royalty with 8 time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, Olympian Molly Picklum & ex WCT surfer Rosy Hodge.
Victoria Muñoz Larreta (ARG) kicked off the day with strong rail surfing on her forehand and committed finishes, earning a solid 6.67. The Girls 16 & Under opening round was dominated by goofy-footers backhand attacks. Louise Jane Lepront (ZAF) and Jasmine Studer (IDN) both performed tight backhand snaps in the pocket, with Jasmine scoring the highest girl’s score of the day—a 7.77 for two powerful backhand re-entries.
The U16 Boys were eager to get into the action after watching the girl’s performances. Lukas Skinner started strong with multiple good scoring rides, showcasing his quick rail game and aerial attack. However, he solidified the first "excellent" score of the day—a lofty air reverse on a set wave, earning an 8.17.
The final seeding round of the day was action packed with multiple excellent scores. Lucas Cassity kicked things off with an 8.33 for a huge straight air into an air reverse off the end section, but Dylan Donegan stole the show with a combination of powerful rail turns and aerials, earning the highest score of the day—9.0 for an incredible ride.
The day wrapped up with an exciting all-star tag-team competition featuring Stephanie Gilmore, Molly Picklum, and Rosy Hodge, each leading their own teams in a 6-surfer, 50-minute heat, with a double whammy surfer to finish. The heat was action-packed and close until the very end. 14-year-old Aditya Somiya (IDN) stole the show for Team Rosy with an 8.5 for three critical turns in the pocket. Despite Steph Gilmore's 8.7, it wasn’t enough to stop Team Rosy from winning the tag-team event with a total of 45.75 points. Team Steph finished second with 41.65, and Team Molly came in third with 30.75.
Round 1 action will kick off tomorrow morning at Pererenan Beach at 7 a.m. with the Girl’s Round 1. The surf is forecasted to be 3 feet and super clean, giving the groms a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage.
Keep up with all the action on LiveHeats and live broadcast for finals day on YouTube and watch the first episode of Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024 - Episode 1.
