Davey’s golden moment

FOR Glenashley’s Davey Van Zyl, passion and surfing go hand-in-hand when it comes to being successful out on the waves. In fact, the 20-year-old even managed to convince his family to move down to Durban so he could pursue his surfing career.

After winning the U16 Billabong Junior back in 2009, he added a silver to his growing list of accomplishments with the SA junior team and now has added, undoubtedly his proudest moment, a gold medal at the ISA World Surfing Games in Panama.

A remarkable achievement considering this was his first call-up to the senior team. Better yet the natural footer finished ninth in the competition.

“Our aim was always to make the top seven to qualify for next year’s China Cup. We were leading the standings on days 5 and 6, before slumping to fourth place, going into the final day. I was Shaun Joubert’s board caddy on the final day and I was cheering him on from the backline.

“The judges hadn’t annouced the winners until the medal ceremony. The Aussies were giving us a good old ribbing because they thought they’d won, but when our names were called out, the celebrations were epic. It was a fantastic feeling,” he said.

A busy schedule awaits Davey as he surfs his way through Latin America which includes Peru, Chile and Mexico before making his way back to the North for the Mr Price Pro in Ballito.

“I’m hoping to make the cut. It would be awesome to surf in front of my home crowd,” he said.