SOUTH ARM/TASMANIA (Saturday, 18th May,2024): A mix of youth and experience in Sienna Lawrence and Matty Kennedy took strong wins today at ‘Wedge’ on the South Arm Peninsula with the 2024 Southern Challenge in Memory of Paul Johannesen scoring consistent waves all day.
It was a who’s who of the young guns in the Open Women’s Final with Lawrence taking on Ava Carlton, Amelie Brown and Jessica Gardner battling it out for valuable Tasmanian Championship Circuit points. Lawrence (14.20 points) coming in over the top of Carlton (10.07 points), Brown (9.26 points) and Gardner (7.50 points). The Clifton Beach goofy foot posting massive 8.37 point single waves score to set herself up for victory.
Image: Sienna Lawrence on her backhand today at ‘Wedge”
The clean conditions stuck around all afternoon and the Men’s Final had good quality waves to put their best foot forward on. Kennedy was not taking his fellow finalists lightly with the likes of veteran Dustin Hollick in the heat.
Kennedy (13.07 points) was by far the busiest surfer with eleven waves scored, including a 7 point score on his very first ride. Henry Hutchings (12.6 points) kept things interesting whilist Hollick (12.07 points) posted nine scoring rides to finish third, ahead of Ned Hart (9.37 points) and Ethan Turner (6.73 points).
FULL RESULTS HERE at LiveHeats
One of the key differences between the Southern Challenge and the rest of the Tasmanian Championship Series is the competition format. Each competitor surfs two heats with their best two combined scores from each heat giving their total on a leaderboard format. Then the top four Men and top four Women surf off in a Final.
The 2024 Southern Challenge in Memory of Paul Johannesen is proudly brought to you by Red Herring Surf Co, Woodhams Builders, Zambrero Rosny and Shoreline Plaza stores, Stu Gibson Photography, The Foreshore Hotel, SINeyewear, We Are Feel Good Inc, South Arm Boardriders and Dometic.
