Kowie Boardriders’ young surfing talent, Carl Wiersma of Port Alfred, pulled out all the stops to win the SA junior title in the U16 division at the 2025 Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships held at Lower Point Jeffrey’s Bay at the weekend.
Wiersma was part of the Buffalo City Surfriders outfit that won the team title after five days of near-perfect waves and top surfing action.
Wiersma who has been surfing since the age of five, and son of well-known champion surfer, Anton, has been knocking on the door of national success for a number of years.
The young talent told Talk of the Town that he had felt “in a good space” all tournament and come the final on Saturday, scored 14.20 to overcome the likes of Kai Stubbs, (13.67) Asbjorn Gwenin 73) and Ben Esterhuyse (9.50). His three finals opponents will all be surfing at the world champs in Peru at the end of the year.
Wiersma said he was still pinching himself to remind him of his achievement.
“It’s by far the biggest win of my career. So I am super happy … it was great to be carried off the beach by teammates and having my mum and dad with me was great. To compete at the level I am at now and winning was just insane,” said Wiersma.
“I had Ben Esterhuyse in the finals who has won the competition four times in a row, and another top surfer in Kai Stubbs.”
He said the support from the shore had been nothing short of phenomenal.
“The support from my teammates was just insane … truly out of the park. And having my family friends and teammates around me just put me in a good space.”
And what next for Carl Wiersma?
“I think am going to keep training harder than ever … I am going to put lot of effort in to getting fitter and my next target is to compete overseas and to win another SA champs.”
Wiersma gave much of the credit to his parents and KBC president, Mickey Wittuhn, saying it was especially Wittuhn who played a big role in the build up. “He actually made us run dunes and get fit before SA champs and it is insane the lengths he went to help me.”
Wittuhn said Wiersma had all the talent to make it big in the world of surfing.
“I had a long chat to him away from everything last year and told him he had all the talent to go further but there had to be a few changes. I coached him (and a few other young club members) old style with a whistle, doing sit ups, running etcetera. It was serious physical training to get them fit.
“I am very happy for Carl … and he definitely is improving and happy he is listening to advice. He doesn’t feature in the rankings but his victory shows what he is capable of.”
Another KBC surfing talent, Lily Heny, secured third position in the U18 girls final after Anastasia Venter (1st) and Remy Fourie (2nd).
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, October 16, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
