Titouan Boyer in the World Junior Surfing Championship in Australia
Titouan Boyer, the young Saint-Martin surfer crowned the 2016 European Junior Champion last summer, is currently competing in the World Junior Championship in Australia. At the World Junior Championship, the best surfers under age 20 from each region compete at Kiama Beach in New South Wales from January 4-13.
"The level is very high," observed Franck Rigal, the president of Sxm Surf Explorer. Although he remains in Saint-Martin, the coach hasn’t missed a moment of the competition. He is crossing his fingers for his student, whose travel is partially funded by the Collectivité since he takes part in local youth athletics.
In order to train those who will certainly become future professional surfers, the competition formats are borrowed from the Top34 and Top17. The WJC therefore includes six rounds before the finals. Each round is divided into heats.
For the first round on Wednesday, January 3, Titouan Boyer finished third in his heat, behind the American Jake Marshall and the Japanese Joh Azuchi. "He might not have chosen the right waves and had no way of expressing himself," commented his coach. However, nothing is lost: the young 18-year-old athlete has nonetheless qualified for the second round, which will take place on January 5 start at 7:30 AM (7:30 PM local time). A sort of second chance, consisting of a sudden death competition. He will have to win his duel against the Australian Lucas Wrice if he wants to go further in the competition.
It is possible to follow his performance, as well as that of the other athletes, notably the Guadeloupean Thomas Deb, live on the World Surf League website.
