KAILUA-KONA – Knowledge, as they say, is power.
Kane Turalde would understand. The Kamehameha-Hawaii sophomore put in the work, and it showed Feb. 29 at the Hawaii Surfing Association’s sixth and final contest of the season. With inconsistent swells at Banyans and a well-established pecking order, a big shake-up wasn’t expected in the state championship qualification rankings.
Turalde, however, had other ideas.
He’d missed the previous contest while training with Kahea Hart at one of his North Shore Surf Clinic surf camps, where Turalde studied body mechanics and alignment, surfing techniques and breathing techniques. He also got in plenty of water time on the North Shore, then Turalde took his training to the next level by traveling to San Diego to work with Jessie Salas to become certified as a foundation training student instructor. Salas developed foundation training as a pain-free approach to improving performance.
For Turalde, all the training meant he’d developed into a more powerful and confident surfer, stepping up take to first place in the boys 16-17 division and well as 14-15. He vaulted himself to third in the 14-15 standing to secure a berth at the state championships.
Joining Kane on the podium in the younger division were Angelo Dowdy in second, top-ranked Kaiola Bray in third and Jackson Dorian in fourth.
In the 16-17 age group, Kaiden Lieto placed second to retain his top ranking, with Dylan Schmarr in third and Kaiola Bray in fourth.
Likely motivated by the recent success of fellow HSA surfer Brodi Sale, who at 16 recently won the Junior Sunset Pro and is ranked 261st by the World Surfing League, the boys 11-under and 12-13 divisions featured 27 competitors.
Zal Costa claimed boys 11-under and secured the top ranking, with Max Germond and brothers Kaninau and Keali’i Lambeth rounding out the top four. In ultra-competitive boys 12-13 division, Dorian was first, top-ranked Tosh Stratton second, Hiro Laliberte third and was Costa fourth.
When he wasn’t taking a turn on the mic as the event announcer, Kaiden Lieto captured the men’s open division to lock down the top spot, followed by Dorian, Christian Enns, and Sam Fenwick.
Thanks to absences and illnesses, the girls turnout was smaller, with six surfers between two age groups. Sophia Carlucci ruled the 12-17 division to maintain her top rank, and Carlucci was followed by and Dani Sale and Kirra Geesey. Opal Dowdy was first in 11U, with Geesey maintaining her top rank in second and Frida Coulon in third.
In the bodyboard final, Keoni Avanilla took first, Matt Solomon second, Noa Frechette third, and Gavin Decker and Evan Delany tied for fourth.
The HSA looks to begin its 2020-21 campaign in early April to give the athletes a tune-up before the state championships, which are tentatively scheduled for April 22-26 at Ala Moana Bowls on Oahu.
