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The Quiksilver World Junior Championships was declared open today with a colourful procession and opening ceremony through the streets of Mission Bay, Auckland New Zealand
Each of the 30 participating countries were dressed in their team colours with the GB team proudly wearing the red, white and blue colours of the union flag, their team kit being sponsored by Calypso, Soft drinks producer
The procession then culminated in the opening ceremony, with a traditional welcome from representatives of the Maori people with before speeches and welcome from the various officials including Fernando Aguerre President of the International Surfing Association , Jon Banks, Mayor of Auckland and Bob Harvey, mayor of Piha. The highlight of the ceremony was the traditional Haka performed by Maori representatives and the New Zealand Team.
The ceremony ended with the traditional pouring of the sands, with representatives of each country pouring sand from their country into a communal tank, each sand forming a different coloured and textured layer in the tank. Tassy Swallow of the GB team, had the responsibility of pouring the sand, gathered from Fistral Beach – although at the time it was gathered it was covered in snow! “It was a cool thing to go up on stage and play a part in the ceremony” she told us
Alex Baker also accompanied Tassy carry the union jack on the stage.
Tomorrow the contest begins with the under 16 boys and the under 18 boys competing on podiums 1 & 2 throughout the day. Nathan Elms is in the first heat at 8am for the under 18 boys and Harry Timson is also in the 1st heat in the under 16 boys division, with the rest of the boys surfing throughout the day
To view the live webcast and results keep an eye on www.isaworldjuniors.com
Really dodgy internet connection today, so more photos tomorrow!!
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