Whatshot
International surfers outmaneuver locals in Cape Town
International surfers outmaneuver locals in Cape Town
Australian surfer, Jordan Lawler who snatched victory away from three South Africans in the final of the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 1000 rated Jordy Smith Cape Town Surf Pro, presented by O'Neill, attributed some of his success here to South Africa and its "nice" people.
"I love it here so much! Every South African I have met is just the coolest guy ever. Everybody is so nice and it definitely plays a role in my surfing over here," said Lawler after coming out of the water.
Surfing in trying conditions that most surfers would not paddle out in, Lawler initially played a waiting game, biding his time for a good wave before deciding to go back to what has worked for him in previous heats. At that stage, Jeffreys Bay's Matthew McGillivray had the lead (9.50) with Cape Town's Adin Masencamp trailing by 0.25 points and Lawler on 6.00.
"The other guys were scrapping and I thought to myself, why am I waiting In every other heat I kept busy and it worked," he said.
That was when Lawler dropped a 7.00 to take the lead from the South Africans. With four minutes on the clock, Lawler dug deep and netted an 8.25 to further extend his lead over Adin Masencamp who had in the meantime overtaken McGillivray. Lawler's 8.25 put McGillivray into a combination situation of 15.25 from which he was unable to recover.
"I am just so stoked! It has been a while since I won a QS and I am over the moon!" said an elated Lawler who was runner-up at the second City Surf Series stop in Port Alfred and will be competing next week in the final stop of the City Surf Series.
In the women's premier division it was the pint sized 16-year-old Minami Nonaka from Japan who out-classed South Africans Nicole Pallet in the Skull Candy leader's jersey, Sarah Baum and Kayla Nogueira.

