Action continues until late afternoon today for the 2024 Billabong Grom Series at Tay Street, Mount Maunganui with a local Mount surfer already taking out a win.

The 2024 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge kicked into action at Mount Maunganui on Saturday, January 27 with the youngest of the next wave of talent surfing through the day to crown two event champions.

Local surfer Sol Fritchley took his second win of the season in the boys division while Piha’s Ella Withers surfed to victory in the girls division.

Earlier this month, the 13-year-old Sol put on a phenomenal performance at the 61st National Championship at St Clair Beach, Dunedin. Sol came out on top in the Under 14 division, being crowned the national champ.

Sol Fritchley. Photo: John Borren.

The surf on Saturday was small throughout the day with waves under the 1.0m mark and light onshore winds.

Sol found himself up against two club mates in Vitor Bauermann and Ffeon Clifford as well as Auckland’s Jesse Frazerhurst.  Sol and Vitor slowly found their rhythm in the final which became a two horse race while Jesse kept to his air game attempting to keep pace with the front runners.

A 15.67 point total in the final was enough for Sol to claim the win with Vitor finishing on 13.97 points.

“Pretty happy because I really wanted to win at my home break,” says Sol.

“I know I am strong here in these waves and this is the last time I get to surf in the Under 14s here, so yeah, I am happy that I took the win."

With the second win over Vitor in as many events, Sol was quick to highlight the importance of the two going head-to-head and pushing each other’s surfing.

“I love versing Vitor, he is always going to post up good scores and I love that rivalry,” says Sol.

Jesse finished in third place improving on his fifth place finish at the National Championships earlier in the month. Eleven-year-old Ffeon Clifford made his first final and placed fourth with his stylish surfing.

Ella Withers.Photo: Coastal Surf Images.

Ella Withers was surfing in her first Billabong Grom Series event and contested three heats to take the win. 

The Piha surfer kept her three Mount Maunganui opponents at arms-length by finishing with a 10.90 point total and will look forward to the next two events, especially the final event at her home beach.

Nami Marsden (Mnt) finished runner up, her second finals berth in as many events. Newcomers Savannah Dawes and Mila Milfont finished in third and fourth respectively.

Earlier in the day the Under 16 Boys Division completed their first rounds of the event. 

The battle of the round went to Dunedin’s Alexis Owen and local shredder Tyler Stenzel.  They exchanged the lead several times with Owen eventually getting the odd and the two surfers advancing through to the quarterfinals. 

Others to take good wins included Indi Chave-Heffernan (Whngrei), Zade Pitkeathy (Mnt), Patrick Burbury (HBay) and Sev Tolhurst (Piha).

The Volkswagen Highest Single Wave Score Award went to Sol Fritchley for a 9.0 point ride in the final of the Under 14 Boys Division.

The Under 18 Boys and Girls Divisions enter the water today, Sunday, January 28, along with the conclusion of the Under 16 Divisions.

Action takes place at Tay Street, Mount Maunganui from 8am until late afternoon on Sunday with similar swell conditions on offer but an increasing northerly wind is expected to build in the afternoon.  Live scoring can be viewed at www.Liveheats.com/SurfingNewZealand.

Mount Maunganui is the first of three of the most popular events in the country with the series carrying on to Whangamata on February 10-11, and Piha on February 24-25.

The 2024 edition of the series draws on a long history of fun with all of New Zealand’s elite surfers having taken part including Richard Christie (Gis), Paige Hareb (Tara), Billy Stairmand (Rag), Mount Maunganui’s own Kehu Butler and Ella Williams (WGM).

It is the nineteenth year that Billabong has sponsored the series in partnership with Oceanbridge who have been a proud long-time supporter of junior surfing in New Zealand.

Follow the event via social media @billabong on Instagram and @surfingnz across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.  Follow the series hashtag - #BillabongGromSeries.

NZ Surf Series - Open Men, Open Women
NZ Grom Series - U18 Boys, U18 Girls, U16 Boys, U16 Girls, U14 Boys, U14 Girls
NZ Longboard and SUP Series - Men's, Women's, Over 40s, Over 50s, U18 Boys, U18 Girls