De Mooij surfs to maiden victory

A wet and wild weekend of weather proved the perfect foil for Mount Maunganui surfer Tianna Breeze de Mooij as she stunned the field to clinch her maiden title at the Backdoor GromBash.

After a mammoth 48 heats, Sunday's finals day at Raglan's Manu Bay was a busy time for the Mount surfer, who produced back-to-back finals appearances in the Under-20 and Under-17 Girl's divisions.


Tiana Breeze de Mooij in action at the Backdoor GromBash. Photos: Col/Surf2Surf.com

The expected swell pulsed in throughout the day with clean 1.5m waves and offshore winds.

De Mooij finished fourth in the U-20 division behind Muriwai surfer Britt Kindred, who claimed her first-ever win at national level in the Under-20 Girls Division.

Kindred was a stand-out surfer all weekend, claiming a perfect ten point ride in the semi-finals before going on to win the final.

Kindred finished with a 23.2 point heat total, defeating Whangamata's Ella Williams who was unable to build on a 8.27 point ride and finished second. Placing third in the final was double-finalist Elin Tawharu (Mt Maunganui), ahead of De Mooij.

But the Mount College student then stunned her opponents with her own victory in the U-17 division - her first ever win at national level.

De Mooij cut her way through the field of surfers in both the U-17 and U-20 divisions with a strong backhand attack.

In the final of the Under-17s she posted a 12.47 point heat total to beat Kindred, with Tawharu having to settle for a pair of thirds this weekend. Milly Crewe (Tara) placed fourth in the final.

In the Under-17 Boys Division, the ever impressive Kehu Butler (Mt Maunganui), claimed his second win of the season after posting an excellent 16 point heat total, defeating Daniel Farr (Taranaki), Lee Ririnui (Mt Maunganui) and Taranaki's Isaac Kettle.

Local Raglan surfer Taylor Hutchison was too strong for his opponents, taking out the prestigious Under-20 Boys title.

Hutchison used his precision backhand attack to notch up a 16.2 point total, edging out runner-up Northland surfer Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata) on 15.7.

The two surfers went wave-for-wave in the final, but Moretti fell short by around a point on each of his waves. Butler placed third in the final after contesting seven heats throughout the day.

The Under-14 Divisions were won by Whangamata's Dylan Preston and Kai Woolf (Gisborne) respectively.


Kehu Butler on his way to the Under-17 title at the Backdoor GromBash. Photo: Col/Surf2Surf.com

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