The waves fired from start to finish on day three of the SA Junior Champs.

Here's a tally of 3 performances we thoroughly enjoyed.

all images: Kody McGregor

Conner Slijpen - Mr. Right

Downton Abbey is a fictional British series that delineates an aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants. It’s set in the fictional Yorkshire Country Estate between 1912 and 1926 in the post Edwardien era. In the series, the master of the household, the Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley is depicted as Mr. Right in Season 1. He boasts a character that is beyond reproach. He’s presented with several challenging issues which he navigates with remarkable aplomb. Now Robert Crawley reminds us of Conner Slijpen’s surfing. It feels like he never makes a bad decision. He hustles people onto waves, chooses the perfect turn for every section, never overcooks things, never looks rushed, holds the rail when the wave slows down, cracks it when it stands up, and sets the fins free on command. And ALWAYS chooses good waves. Wanna know how to put a good heat together, ask Mr. Right.

Rory Dace - Master of the Point Break

Rory Dace didn’t just grow up on a point break - it looks like he was born on the point break. Better yet born to surf point breaks. The Dace brothers live in Seal Point and when they make their way over the Krom River to the point break heaven of Jeffreys Bay, in particular, Lower Point, Rory looks like he’s at home, sitting on his couch in his pajamas enjoying an episode of Outer Banks. Rory Dace laid down some of the best, if not the best, rail work we’d seen this entire event. It was an exposition of how to surf a right-hand point break. Rory garnished each wave he surfed with the most gorgeous searing carves, holding the rail top to bottom, beautiful lip bashes and he made certain he was on the premiere waves of the matchup. The judges loved Rory’s garnishings and issued him an 8.00 and a 6.25 for his efforts.

Adriel Wolmarans - The Dark Horse

Adriel was by far the standout of the U18 girls division on Day 3 of competition. She came out the gates firing, like a studious student, well prepared and ready to attack her exam paper. It appeared as if the two Buffalo City coaches, Dave and the Big G, Mr Emslie devised a heat strategy which she executed flawlessly. In the tricky and less than ideal Lower Point conditions, Adriel’s board flew through the flats with oodles of speed and when she came around sections she directed that board straight into the lip like it was just another day at Nahoon Reef. On her 6.20, Adriel belted the lip twice in quick succession for a 6.20 - one of the highest two-turn wave scores of the event thus far.