Kereopa scores first win to close the gap

Kereopa scores first win to close the gap in The Ultimate Waterman

New Zealand’s Daniel Kereopa has made a move up the leaderboard by taking out the shortboard surfing discipline at Curio Bay, on day three of The Ultimate Waterman.

After four of the eight events, Australian Jackson Maynard still leads the competition overall, but Kereopa is now just 20 points behind, with defending champion Zane Schweitzer (HAW) a further 15 points back.

The Watermen made the most of pristine conditions at Curio Bay, with a 1.5 to 2.5 metre offshore swell, and sunny weather. Kereopa advanced to the final by winning heat one from Caio Vaz (BRA), Maynard and Connor Baxter (HAW), while Schweitzer (HAW) and Manoa Drollet (PFY), the winner of yesterday’s barrel contest, also progressed to the final ahead of Chuck Glynn (USA) and Coco Nogales (MEX).

After missing out on the double whammy points during yesterday’s longboard, Kereopa says he decided to throw caution to the wind. “The ocean dealt to me yesterday so I thought ‘stuff it’, I’m going to behave like I’ve got nothing to lose” he said. “I paddled around like a little kid and caught all the waves.”

Maynard remains the only athlete to win his “double whammy” event so far, taking the maximum 2000 points in the opening day’s prone paddle-board.

The leaderboard after four events is;

Jackson Maynard (AUS)* 3868 points
Daniel Kereopa (NZL)* 3848
Zane Schweitzer (HAW)* 3833
Manoa Drollet (PFY)* 3598
Caio Vaz (BRA) 3200
Connor Baxter (HAW) 2510
Chuck Glynn (USA) 2277
Coco Nogales (MEX) 2060

* Denotes double whammy completed.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, 4 April NZT) the southern adventure for the Watermen will go to a new level when they’re helicoptered to a secret location in Fiordland for the SUP surfing event. It’s the double whammy event for Caio Vaz, who was the surprise winner of the longboard competition yesterday.

ends.

© Scoop Media