Concluding The Most Firing World Juniors In Recent Memory

If you happened to be one of the very youthful, stickered up QS grinders chasing World Junior glory in California this week, then you were very lucky indeed. 

Through the course of the last few days, the WSL has been running the World Junior Championships at Seaside Reef in San Diego, and the event window coincided with some of the heaviest rains and one of the biggest swells California has seen in years. 

What did this mean for the boys and girls vying for a spot on next year’s Challenger Series?

Yucky water, good waves.

Really good waves.

Throughout the event, almost every commentator remarked on the noticeably rare quality of surf the event had enjoyed. Seaside showed out, with shimmering liplines, light offshores, and exactly enough juice for multiple 9’s to be dropped throughout the event.

Hell, if these waves had been on the CT, nobody would’ve been complaining — especially not the goofs.

On the men’s side, 3 Stab Innocents stars made the semifinals; Al Cleland Jr, Jarvis Earle, and Levi Slawson all surfed incredibly well throughout the event, though it was Jarvis who took the crown and the guaranteed spot on the CS.

On the women’s side, Portugal’s Francisca Veselko belted her way past Erin Brooks, Sierra Kerr, and Sawyer Linblad to claim a well-deserved victory.

Let’s hope waves like these are a good omen for 2023 competitive surfing.