CRONULLA’S Shane Campbell has held off a wave of South Coast residents to claim the Battle Royale surfing competition at Coledale Beach on Saturday.
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The 22-year-old finished the event in second place in 2015, but was able to go one better this time around, defeating Gerroa’s Dean Bowen in the final.
Campbell currently competes on the World Surf League Qualifying Series, the level below the lucrative Championship Tour.
South Coast residents filled out the remainder of the podium, with Culburra Beach’s Louis Gillick and Coledale’s Luke Wrice finishing in equal third place.
Event organiser Dylan Perese was impressed with the skill the surfers displayed in some trying conditions.
“There were slightly testing conditions with a strong southerly wind, but we had good, surfable two-to-three feet waves at Coledale Beach.” Perese said.
“The level of competition was really high, there was some really impressive surfing that went on.
Shane Campbell from Cronulla took the victory but overall there was some really electric surfing throughout the day.”
Competing at his home beach, Wrice was among the most heavily supported surfers in the event.
The 18-year-old was also able to put his local knowledge to good use, using his understanding of the breaks to propel him to third position.
“Luke used a bit of local knowledge to help him take out Nic Squiers, a past champion in the quarter final, before he was eventually stopped in the semi final,” Perese said.
Campbell took home $4000 in prize money, while Bowen claimed $2000 and Gillick and Wrice each collected $750.
The women’s event was won by Mollymook’s Sophia Fulton, a 15-year-old who also competes in the qualifying series and is coached by former world champion Pam Burridge.
“Sophia is a promising young surfer with a big future ahead of her,” Perese said.
The boy’s event was won by Beau Buckpitt, another 15-year-old who has impressed many within the surfing community.
The Culbarra local has been winning surfing events since the age of nine and shows no signs of slowing down.
He won an Indonesian surfing experience worth over $500.
Overall, Perese was pleased with how the event panned out and was thankful for the support he received from the local community.
“We had a pretty successful event, we were pretty happy with the turnout and really happy with how it went,” he said.
“We’re just excited and pleased with the support and turnout and want to say a big thank you to everyone who was involved and anyone who popped their head in and had a look.”