Russell Bierke, weight of the world, NSW

Judging by the above image, it’s fair to say that Russell Bierke had a rather productive school holidays. With the first notable east swell of the Australian winter pounding the NSW coastline last week, the 16-year-old inserted himself into some large aquatic caves, proving that age ain’t no barrier. “It was freezing cold, howling offshore and a solid six-foot on the sets,” says our lensman Jakcob Montgomery. “This particular session attracted a huge crowd from the early hours of the morning, and the numbers only grew. But despite the amount of surfers, bodyboarders and photographers, Russell managed to pick off plenty of good ones throughout the morning.”