Whangamata surfer Grace Spiers' World Cup campaign is over after a last-gasp ride eliminated her from the title race.

Day five of the 2014 Claro ISA 50th Anniversary World Surfing Games in Peru saw Spiers dropping back to the reperchage rounds, placing fourth in her first heat.

Whangamata surfer Grace Spiers in action at the 2014 Claro ISA 50th Anniversary World Surfing Games. Photo: ISA/Tweedle.

Battling a bad back throughout the event, she took to the water in the afternoon, and held second position until the final ten seconds before her hopes of progressing were dashed.

At the death, a local Peruvian surfer paddled to the shore to catch a small inside wave and score 3.07 points, which was enough to eliminate Spiers from the event in 17th place.

'I tried so hard to get another wave and stop the Peruvian surfer getting one but somehow she got it at the end,” she said after counting a 1.0 point ride in her 5.67 point heat total.

'My back has been absolute s**t to put it bluntly. I've been living on painkillers and laying flat on the floor in between heats. I'm proud of myself for pushing through and surfing my heats but I don't think I would have lasted much longer in the surf to be honest.”

It was a mixed day for the rest of the Kiwi team, with Dunedin's JC Susan the only member to progress through the day unscathed after surfing two tight heats.

The amazing run of big surf had to come to an end sooner or later, and while conditions still looked excellent, the surf was more in the 1.5m range at Punta Rocas.

Susan's early match up with team mate Zen Wallis only went to plan for the Dunedin surfer, who won the heat with an 11.6 point heat total after opting to sit on the inside section of the wave.

Wallis was left hunting a 5.91 point ride to progress and finished the heat in third place behind Susan and a surfer from Chile.

Susan's second match up of the day included the youngest of the Wallis brothers Tane, along with surfers from South Africa and Venezuela.

Taking the same approach, Susan opted to sit further in from of his opponents to avoid the hassling element of each heat.

This time around Susan found himself on the back-foot after Wallis opened with a 6.33 point ride and then South African David Brand locked in two big scoring rides, one of which Wallis narrowly missed catching himself.

But with less than three minutes remaining, Susan opted to paddle closer to shore and pick up a second scoring ride which was enough to see him progress behind Brand with Wallis stranded out the back and finishing the heat in fourth place.

After today's performances, the New Zealand Team has moved up one place to eighth on the team rankings which are led by Peru, Australia and defending champions South Africa.