Elliot Paerata-Reid: Day 2 in Ecuador Junior World Champs

The New Zealand Junior Surfing Team was pushed along by two great performances from Kehu Butler (Mnt) and Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha) at the Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championship being held in Ecuador today (Tuesday 8th April).

The nine day event being held at La Fae Beach, Salinas, Ecuador endured some more challenging conditions with a good 1.0m – 1.5m swell and light onshore winds which made wave selection crucial for all surfers.

Butler and Paerata – Reid both advanced through to the last 24 surfers in their respective qualifying rounds of the Under 16 and Under 18 Boys Divisions.

Paerata – Reid surfed a text book heat in the Under 18 Boys Division opening up early with a heat-high 6.67 point ride. He then went about putting the pressure on his opponents by building around his first wave until he sealed the heat win with seven minutes to go scoring a 6.40 point ride. He finished with a 13.07 point total to progress alongside Portuguese surfer Thomas Ferreira.

“The waves are difficult but it is a lot like my home break at Piha in New Zealand” explained Paerata - Reid. “I haven’t had much of a chance to surf out here yet because it is so crowded. I watched a few heats before mine to understand the break and figure out a backup plan in case things didn’t go my way” he added.

Paerata – Reid also made mention of channelling the controlled aggression of the haka into his heats and how he aims to make it past the quarterfinals for the first time in the five years that he has contested the event.

When the third qualifying round resumes tomorrow (Wednesday NZT), Paerata – Reid will face off against Nelson Cloarec (FRA), Luan Wood (BRA) and Ulu Napeahi (HAW).

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