The New Zealand Longboard Team heads to the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Longboard Championship in El Salvador this April.

The event is being held at Surf City, El Salvador and will see the best Longboarders in the world competing for their respective nations. The event runs over seven days from the April 18 - 25.

New Zealand is sending a team of four of the best competitive Longboarders in the country who qualified via the Surfing New Zealand National Team Qualification Policy.

The team comprises of Jack Tyro (Chch) and Matt Newdick (Auck) in the Men’s Longboard Division. Hannah Kohn (Gisborne) and Gabi Paul (Piha) will represent New Zealand in the Women’s Longboard Division.

Last held in El Salvador, Surf City in 2023 with a record 103 surfers from 32 nations, the world championship promises to be extremely exciting with El Salvador’s world famous El Sunzal point again in the limelight for the 2024 edition of the event.

Matt Newdick. Photo: Coastal Surf Images.

Matt Newdick will be representing New Zealand in surfing for the first time. He recently competed at the Loggerheads event in Mangawhai.

"It’s going to be an epic time, with an absolute hell crew! I have never represented NZ and never really thought I would have the opportunity so it’s going to be awesome," says Matt.

"I’m probably most excited to experience this event as a New Zealand team member and be able to see another part of the world."

Jack Tyro. Photo: CPL.

Christchurch local, Jack Tyro will continue his overseas endeavors after a season of chasing the WSL Longboard tour in Australia.

Having been to El Salvador in 2022 for the ISA World Junior Champs he will be using his past knowledge of the break to get the upper hand over some of the best longboard surfers in the world.

"It has been my goal to go to the ISA World Longboard Champs for some time now so I am stoked for the opportunity, this year it looks like the top WSL Longboard competitors will be attending the event which is what I was hoping for," says Tyro.

“I am competing a lot in Australia, and I am just about to head off to the Noosa Festival of Surfing as well as competing in the premier Longboard comps of New Zealand.

"I have also been working with High-Performance Sport NZ for the last couple of years, I can’t wait to get over there and do New Zealand and my sponsors Keyo International, RPM Clothing, Exit Surf, Skullcandy New Zealand, and Ola Surf Lifestyles proud."

Gabi Paul. Photo: CPL.

There will be two females complementing the team again in 2024. Gabi Paul of Piha supported by Sol Goods & Morris Surfboards is excited to be heading to El Salvador for the first time. Not unfamiliar to top level competition this will be Gabi’s third time to the ISA World Longboard Championships.

Her debut in the New Zealand Longboard team began as a 16-year-old grommet in 2018 where she joined the team in China and placed 17th in the world.

Gabi again qualified for the team in 2019 heading to Biarrtiz, France where she placed 25th.

After an excellent performance in Papamoa at the New Zealand Festival of Longboarding, the National Surfing Championships in Dunedin and the NZ Women’s Surfing Festival in Pauanui, Gabi is looking forward to heading to El Salvador to perform on the world stage again.

The fourth member of the team, Hannah Kohn qualified for the team after a dominant display at the New Zealand Festival of Longboarding in Papamoa. This will be her first time representing New Zealand and she can’t wait.

“I am looking forward to it. Back in my Grom days it was a dream to represent NZ," says Hannah.

"And we have a solid team who are all amazing people so it will be a fun trip. I am looking forward to representing Aotearoa/NZ as it is a massive honour and looking forward to meeting and getting to know more of the epic logging community."

Longboarding was first held as an ISA medal division at the 1988 ISA World Surfing Championship (now the ISA World Surfing Games) in Puerto Rico. The discipline continued as part of the ISA World Surfing Games until 2013, when it was held as a stand-alone event for the first-time in Huanchaco, Peru.

The ISA will have a live stream of the event via their website.

The Surfing New Zealand Longboard Team is as follows:

Men’s Longboard
Jack Tyro (Christchurch)
Matt Newdick (Auck)

Women’s Longboard
Gabi Paul (Piha)
Hannah Kohn (GIS)

If you would like to support the team in their fundraising efforts you can donate to their givealittle campaigns below
Gabi Paul https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-gabi-get-to-the-isa-world-longboard
Matt Newdick
Jack Tyro
Hannah Kohn https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/get-hannah-to-worlds?ref=home&ref_code=donation_feed

Complete event write-ups, results, surfer ratings and images from the event can be viewed at Surfing New Zealand. And the ISA Website
 
The draw and results can be viewed at www.ISA.com