Local surfers star at Aussie titles

SURF COAST surfing superstars Emma Webb and Greg Brown have further etched themselves into Australian surfing history by taking out their respective divisions at the Australian Surf Championships.

The pair have combined for more than 10 Australian surfing titles in the past decade and again rose to the top against the country’s best surfing talent.

Held at Bonny Hills in New South Wales, the competition brought together more than 100 of the best longboard and traditional logger surfers from around Australia.

A team of 13 surfers from the Surf Coast and Bellarine community represented Team Victoria across the eight days of competition.

 

Anglesea surfer Emma Webb looked in dominant form from the outset of the Over 40 Women Longboard division on Tuesday and showed off her incredible technical repertoire in the tricky conditions.

However, Webb would leave best work to the last day of competition on Saturday, putting on a clinical display in the division final to score the highest heat total of the day and thus secure her first Australian title crown since 2020.

“I’m pretty stoked!” she said.

“I haven’t won one for a while and it’s the first time I’ve been up here for the titles in the last four or five years.

“It’s still really exciting and I still get those same nerves I was getting when I was competing 20 years ago.”

 

She said she was was also pleased to see so many women’s competing in a suite of different age divisions throughout the event, including Over 40s, 50s and 60s.

“Having so many women’s divisions is really great and I believe this is what fosters the camaraderie among the women competitors.

“In the past, I’d watch the men compete across numerous divisions, and I often felt like I was just waiting for my turn in the open women’s category.

“That’s where the camaraderie truly comes into play.”

Webb also took home second place honours in the Open Women Longboard division, which ran earlier in the week.

Torquay surfing icon Greg Brown also added another Australian Title to his trophy collection, taking out the Over 60s Men Longboard division in fine fashion.

 

Brown’s elite mix of traditional and progressive longboard railwork caught the eyes of the judges during the event.

He secured top scoring honours in three straight rounds of the Over 60 Men Longboard division on his way to taking home the overall title.

The multiple time Australian champion also finished second in the Over 55 Men’s division to Queensland style master Wally Allan.

Other local surfers to finish the podium at the Australian Surf Championships included Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale, third place in Open Women Longboard and fourth in Open Women Logger), Ted Conroy (Point Lonsdale, fourth in Under 18 Junior Men Logger), and Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove, third in Over 40 Women Logger).

 

The Australian Surf Championships will continue this weekend with the Shortboard divisions.

For live scores and results, head to liveheats.com/surfingaus/events