‘Pretty throaty one’: Sunny Coast teen’s incredible feat to be crowned inaugural nation champion at Australian Interschools Surfing champs

Queensland and New South Waled have swept up at the inaugural Australian Interschools Surfing Championships this week. Hear from one junior winner on his incredible feat, plus see which Gold Coast school walked away as overall champions. Full story inside:

Henry Dowling The finals of the boys individual events at the Australian Interschools Surfing Championships Friday May 24, 2024. Picture, John Gass

Sunshine Coast junior Henry Dowling has won the Year 7-9 boys title at the inaugural Australian Interschools Surfing Championships on the back of a stunning barrel.

Dowling, 14, ducked behind the curtain in clean conditions at Miami to score an 8.35 ride, a wave that proved to be enough to beat closets rivals Jai Nield (8.15) and Lachlan Arghyros (8.0) in the final on Friday.

Henry DowlingThe finals of the boys individual events at the Australian Interschools Surfing Championships Friday May 24, 2024. Picture, John Gass

The Year 9 St Andrew’s Anglican College student and Noosa Boardriders member came to the Gold Coast hopeful of going well but never dreamt of having a national title to his name.

“It feels amazing,” Dowling said. “I managed to get a barrel for a couple of seconds and it managed to get me through.

“It was a pretty throaty one. On the Noosa point it serves up a lot of barrels so I have been able to hone my skills there.

“I didn’t expect to win it. I put in a lot of work and felt like I deserved it so it was good.”

SEE MORE: Mega gallery from the inaugural Australian inter-schools surfing competiton

Contest director Glen Elliott said the event was a resounding success and declared Surfing Australia’s ambition was to make the contest the biggest schools competition in the world.

The finals of the boys individual events at the Australian Interschools Surfing Championships Friday May 24, 2024. Picture, John Gass

“We are very committed to making this event grow on the back of the success of the Australian Boardriders Battle grand final that we held at Burleigh Heads earlier this year,” Elliott said.

“We want to try and emulate that and make this the biggest schools surfing event in the world.

“We had over 200 kids competing in the individual formats, 56 school teams and over 350 competitors over a two-day period.

“The team events were hugely successful across both male and female senior and junior divisions.

“The surf was great at Miami and we scored a great bank there.”

OTHER WINNERS

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School took home the Overall School Winners trophy, with five tag teams earning spots between the four age group finals.

The Gold Coast school walked away with one gold, two silvers and one bronze.

The finals of the boys individual events at the Australian Interschools Surfing Championships Friday May 24, 2024. Picture, John Gass

St Andrew’s Anglican College claimed the boys Years 7-9 Tag Team division while Sunshine Beach State High School took home the girls gold.

Cooee Senior Boys were victorious in the boys Years 10-12 Tag Team, alongside by Palm Beach Currumbin 1 who won the girls.

In the individual divisions, it was St Andrew’s Henry Dowling (boys Years 7-9), Sunshine Beach’s Eliza Richardson (girls Years 7-9), Illawarra Grammar’s Samuel Lowe (boys Years 10-12) and NSW-based student Ava Arghyros (girls Years 10-12) who walked away with a trophy in hand.

Originally published as ‘Pretty throaty one’: Sunny Coast teen’s incredible feat to be crowned inaugural nation champion at Australian Interschools Surfing champs