Fingal Head surfer Dane Henry wins world title at ISA World Junior Championships

Dane Henry has added to Australia’s long and storied competitive surfing legacy by taking out a junior world title. Find out how a clutch call helped him to victory.

Dane Henry recorded a combined score of 16.8 to take out the gold medal at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship at Surf City El Salvador. Picture: ISA/Pablo Jimenez

When it comes to surfing, competitors often speak about being in tune with the elements, about reading the ocean, picking up on its energy and being able to sense when and where a potentially heat-winning wave will come.

For Australia’s Dane Henry, he tuned in at the most crucial of moments as he added to the country’s long and storied surfing legacy by becoming the latest world champion at the ISA World Junior Championships, held at Surf City in El Salvador.

The 17-year-old from Fingal Head in far northern NSW won gold in the under-18 boys division with a two-wave total of 16.8 out of a possible 20, which included an almost-perfect ride of 9.23, edging out fellow Australian Fletcher Kelleher (15.97), Brazil’s Rickson Falcão (14.67) and Japan’s Ikko Watanabe (8.70).

After kicking off the grand final with an impressive 7.17 score, Henry then took a punt that would prove to pay huge dividends.

“I kind of split up from the other three boys in the heat, which was my game plan, just to start up the top and then head down to the left a fair bit. Then that 9.23 just came straight to me,” he said.

“That was an out-of-body moment: I just surfed the wave how it was in front of me and only did turns on it. I did three big turns, claimed it pretty hard and then looked back at all the Aussies back on the beach.”

Henry celebrating on the beach after taking out the gold medal in the under-18 boys division. Picture: ISA/Pablo Franco

Shortly after Henry backed up the score with another impressive ride of 7.57 to take a commanding lead in the heat and ultimately set up victory.

“I had belief in myself that I could win with turns and not just my air game, but I ended up doing it with both after the 7.5 when I did one air rev,” he said.

“That was within the first 10 minutes. That last 20 minutes of the heat felt like the slowest of my life.”

While those last 20 minutes might have dragged on, the regular footer didn’t even have to wait to get to the beach before kicking off the celebrations.

“There were three really key moments,” he said. “One was when I got my last wave as the heat finished and they announced that I won while I was still out in the water. I got up on a wave and one of my best mates, Fletcher Kelleher, who ended up getting the silver medal, also got on the wave, so we stood up on the same wave and gave each other a big hug. That was a pretty special moment.

“Then coming onto the rocks and my mum being there and giving her a big hug was pretty special. I started bawling my eyes out, I’m pretty sure. That was very special because she’s been such a huge part of my journey and a huge part of this trip.

“And the last was being in the ‘ring of fire’ with me and Fletcher being in the middle and all the Aussies around us and doing our big ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, come on’ chant. That was definitely really special, I’ve been hoping for that moment for the last few months and it was pretty amazing when it happened.”

The 17-year-old took to the air in the final. Picture: Jersson Barboza

The 17-year-old’s performance in the final capped off an excellent week that saw him post seven wave scores in the excellent range (more than eight points), including a perfect 10 in the earlier rounds.

“I had belief in myself that I could keep getting excellent scores and excellent heat totals and it ended up working up really well,” said Henry. “I just felt really in tune with the ocean, really in tune with the bank and my equipment and surfboards were feeling absolutely incredible for the entire event.”

Henry’s victory capped off an excellent week for the Australian team, which took out the overall team gold medal for the first time since 2013. The Irukandjis finished with 7098 points, a whopping 1573 ahead of second-placed Hawaii.

“It was definitely one of the most special things about the whole comp, because it is such a team-based comp,” he said.

“There was a lot of noise around the comp site to see if Australia could get it done and before the semi-finals we got word that we won the gold,” he added. “I ended up having the honour of captaining the team and that was super special to hear (that we won) and it brought a tear to my eye. It was super satisfying to take it out after a 10-year drought.”

The Australian team won gold in the overall standings. Photo: ISA/Pablo Jimenez

Henry wasn’t the only Aussie to claim individual glory, with Gold Coast surfer Ziggy Mackenzie winning gold in the under-16 girls division.

“Ziggy was actually in the heat before me,” said Henry. “I got my first wave all the way into the beach and as I was paddling back out she was paddling back in. I just started screaming, saying ‘Let’s go, Ziggy.’ That definitely fuelled me and was pretty surreal having her win the gold right before my heat and I felt like there was a gold coming my way when she did that.”

He added: “It was a special week all round. I’m so proud of all the team, we all surfed so well.”

Now a couple of days on, the Tweed surfer is still buzzing from the victory.

“It’s still feeling pretty surreal,” he said. “I’ve calmed down a bit. I was definitely feeling pretty out of body in the moment and after the win but I’ve kind of calmed down and it has sunk in. It’s feeling really real and it feels really good.”

Gold Coast surfer Ziggy Mackenzie won gold in under-16 girls division. Picture: ISA/Pablo Franco

Joining the likes of Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright, eight-time world champion Steph Gilmore, two-time world champion Tyler Wright and Championship Tour veteran Sally Fitzgibbons as an ISA World Junior Champion, Henry will now turn his attention to the Australia/Oceania leg of the WSL Qualifying Series, the third tier of world surfing, in the hope of emulating his heroes and one day qualifying for the world tour.

“I’ll actually be back in Oz for four days and then I’ll head to Indonesia to Krui for the first QS of the season, so I’m hoping to get a few good results on the QS and hopefully make the Challenger Series next year.

“I’m still young, I’ve got so much time but I’m really keen on giving it a good crack this year and see if I can match it with the bigger boys that are on the Qualifying Series now.”