Nixon Picks Holmes For Surf Team
Global Surf News reports that Nixon South Africa has signed local surfer Sean Holmes to be a part of their surf team.
The Wilderness native has been hailed by the international premium watch and accessories brand as an ‘accomplished, all round surfer’ and they said that he’ll make an awesome asset to the team. Holmes’ accomplishments include a quarter final result at the recent 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay, being a multiple SA & WQS event champion. In 2000, he was also the winner of the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event at Dungeons in Cape Town.
Well done, dude!
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J-Bay Billabong Pro: And The First Saffa To Qualify
… to the next round of the Jeffrey’s Bay Billabong Pro is?
Sean Holmes!
After being off to a reportedly ‘nervous start’, the local favourite became the first local surfer to qualify for the next round of the Billabong Pro when he beat Hawaiian Dustin Barca.
Sean told KFM that surfing in front of the enthusiastic home crowd made him so nervous in the beginning that his legs felt like jelly.
But obviously that feeling passed, and we couldn’t be happier about it!
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Ongoing: O’Neill Cold Water Classic
The Cape of storms has been living up to its reputation, making for interesting and challenging conditions during the O’Neill Cold Water Classic (CWC).
The CWC, which is taking place in Cape Town right now, has already delivered a shock with the departure of South African champion Sean Holmes who was ousted from the event by another local, Josh Salie. He seemed just as surprised by his performance as everyone else and said his family and friends cheering him on from the beach actually made him more nervous!
But the highest wave scorer thus far (9.6) has been 16-year old Hawaiian John John Florence. He managed to knock former World Tour surfer Nathan Hedge out of this third leg of the CWC series.
Apart from frequent storms stirring up the waves – according to forecasters, it’s not going to ease up soon – the organisers of this South African leg of the series have taken steps to ensure that the event will have minimal impact on the environmentally sensitive coastline of the planned venues while simultaneously benefitting the local economy.
According to O’Neill South Africa’s marketing manager, Paul Canning, they have pulled out all the stops to make the event as environmentally friendly as possible.
“We will be implementing a comprehensive environmental management plan to reduce the impact on the various South peninsula beaches where the event will be run.
“At the same time we have also hired all labour, equipment, services and accommodation locally to make sure the economy of the area benefits from the running of a contest that we hope will go on to become one of the icon events on the annual international surfing calendar and a cornerstone of the Series.”
The event will run until Wednesday, the 24th of June.
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Billabong Re-Signs Sean Holmes
South African surfing champion Sean Holmes has just been re-signed by Billabong, Kustom and VonZipper to extend his role as one of their team riders for another three years.
The 31-year old is best known for his incredible surfing at Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay and particularly his feats as an uber-wildcard in the Billabong Pro ASP World Tour event where he twice eliminated former three-time World Champion, Hawaiian Andy Irons in Round 3, earning him the nickname of ‘The Nemesis’. Sean also gained international acclaim by winning the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event at Dungeons in 2000.
“Sean is one of South Africa’s greatest surfers and he has not reached his full potential on the world stage,” said Billabong South Africa CEO, Ernest Bendeman. “With the way the world ranking system is evolving the timing for Sean is perfect – he is surfing better than ever and he could cause some major upsets. He is truly an asset to our team.”
Sean who is a former Billabong SA marketing manager and now the marketing manager for a national restaurant chain, is looking forward to raising his game, competing internationally and assisting with the Billabong Adventure Division where he and big wave chargers Grant Baker and Greg Long will challenge some of the world’s biggest waves that batter the coastline of the Cape Peninsula every winter.
The Capetonian says he is looking forward to his future big wave exploits. “I’ve never really put my mind to competing in big waves but I’ve been free-diving for training and feel that my mind is now in the right place.”
“I’ll also be trying to get into the 6-Star rated Cold Water Classic events in big, hollow waves in Cape Town, Scotland, Canada, Tasmania and Santa Cruz,” added Holmes. “And of course I’m looking forward to contesting the VZ Wildcard Trials at Supers again and hopefully the trials of a couple of other World Tour events, as well as specialty contests like the Billabong Cloud Nine in the Philippines and the Quik Goodwave in Durban.”
“It was an easy decision to make as I received a huge amount of support from the SA surfing fraternity to start competing again,” commented Holmes. “I’m going to free up more time at work, spend a lot more time in the water and it’s going to be exciting giving it another go.”
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