Cronulla surfer Jarvis Earle looking ahead after claiming World Junior Championship title in California

Following a long line of legendary Cronulla goofy footers, 18-year-old surfer Jarvis Earle has his eyes on the big stage after claiming the WSL World Junior Championships in California.

“It’s only just sinking in now,” says Jarvis Earle. “I’m definitely pretty happy with it, I’m stoked.”

It’s easy to see why the blond-haired 18-year-old has got a smile from ear to ear. Earle is back in Australia after last week taking out the World Surf League World Junior Championships at Seaside Reef, San Diego.

In what must be every surfer’s dream, the event window coincided with some of the bigger swells California has seen in years, with competitors taking on the six to eight foot – and occasionally 10 foot – waves at the break.

“I actually wasn’t expecting waves that big over there in California,” says Earle. “I brought all of my groveler boards and only had one step-up that I ended up riding for the whole comp.”

The extra size seemed to suit the Cronulla local to a tee, with Earle putting on a masterclass throughout the event to take out the title.

Jarvis Earle being chaired from the beach after winning the Final at the 2022 Sambazon World Junior Championships on January 13, 2023 at San Diego, California. (Photo by Kenny Morris/World Surf League).

He now joins the likes of world champions Andy Irons and Gabriel Medina, and longtime Championship Tour surfers Jordy Smith and Sally Fitzgibbons as those to have won the junior championship, which is open to the best under-20 surfers in the world.

“It’s definitely been a goal. When you look at the past winners of the event, there’s been some really big names on there,” he said.

“It’s a pretty prestigious event and I’ve always wanted to try and win it, and I’m stoked that it came true.”

He arguably saved his best moment for last, scoring a near-perfect 9.50 ride in the final as he overcame American Levi Slawson 17.00 to 11.60 to claim the title.

“I try not to overthink it too much and let the pressure get to me,” he said.

“I just try to stay in the moment and look what I can do in the heat to get myself in the best position to win.

“When I got that wave I saw that huge section on the end, so I had to go for it. I ended up making it, and I heard all the Aussies cheering on the beach. It was a good moment.”

Earle arguably saved his best for last, with a near-perfect wave of 9.50 in the final. (Photo by Kenny Morris/World Surf League).

One of the Aussie contingent on the beach was Peter Duncan, Surfing Australia’s talent pathway coach, who travelled with Earle over to San Diego for the event.

“For Jarvis to take it out as an 18-year-old is very impressive. And if you look at the past champions of this event, it really sets the stage for future success at the world tour level,” he said.

Indeed, with the win, Earle has booked his ticket on this year’s WSL Challenger Series, world surfing’s second-tier tour.

Not only will this expose the recently graduated Cronulla High student to better competition and more financial rewards, but the Challenger Series is also a pathway to the top of world surfing, with those who finish in the top 10 automatically qualifying for the top-tier Championship Tour (CT).

“It’s been a pretty big goal to try and make the Challenger Series this year, because I just finished up school, so now I’ve got nothing on for the whole year except for just surfing and training.”

The Cronulla goofy legacy

The win also marks a quite remarkable rise for Earle, who by his own admission went through so difficult run at the beginning of 2022.

“It has kind of just started to click,” he said.

“At the start of last year I had a bit of a bad run with the events, and then I started changing a few little things and started getting good results, so I’ve kind of been on a roll since midway through last year and this topped it off to win the world juniors.”

He credits much of the turnaround to his coach, former world number two and longtime CT surfer Luke Egan.

“He lives just around the corner from me, so I was doing a bunch of sessions with him before I went over to America,” he said.

“He’s always just really calm, and he helps me with competition stuff – that’s what I was struggling with at the start of the year. He’s helped me to stay calm and present in the moment. And whenever I have a break from competition he’s good with my technique stuff to really improve my surfing.”

First hitting the water at the age of five, Earle grew up surfing Cronulla’s beach breaks.

Earle’s world junior victory is also another big win for Cronulla, with the 18-year-old Elouera Boardriders Club member joining a long list of legendary shire goofy footers that includes the likes of Connor O’Leary, Mark Occhilupo, Richard ‘Dog’ Marsh, Kirk Flintoff, Andy King and Gary Green.

And while he draws inspiration from them all, there is one that really stands out.

“The main one for me was Connor O’Leary,” says Earle, who started surfing on Cronulla’s beach break from the age of five.

“He grew up in Cronulla, he’s on the Championship Tour, so I’ve always looked up to him and he’s always been really good to me. I’d always see him surfing around Cronulla and he’s been a pretty big inspiration for me.”

CT surfer Connor O'Leary has been a big inspiration for Earle. Photo: Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW

In fact, if all goes to plan, Earle could well be lining up alongside his idol on the CT sometime in the future.

“My end goal is to qualify for the world Championship Tour, but there are obviously a lot of small goals along the way,” he said.

“I’m still pretty young, so there’s going to be a lot of learning along the way, but I’m definitely feeling confident that if I have some good heats then I can definitely get some good results on the Challenger Series.”

And while the CT remains the main goal at the moment, with surfing having made its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Duncan says that the 18-year-old could well become an Olympian in years to come.

“I think with Jarvis being so young, travel and growth personally will be an exciting opportunity along with continuing to develop his skill set to win at world tour locations,” he said. “Also looking into the next Olympic cycles for LA and Brisbane I’m sure he has one eye on representing Australia.”