SA Junior team member, Sebastian Williams was stoked to hear that he’d earned a spot in the finals of Quiksilver’s King of the Groms competition. What made the news even better for the Under 16 ripper, was that it was none other than Dane Reynolds who had chosen to award him a wildcard into the finals – which are to be held in a secret location on 10 November and broadcast live.
Sebastian’s video entry for Round 2, which caught the eye of one of the world’s best, Dane Reynolds, to earn himself a place in the finals.
Currently competing at the 2015 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Champs in Oceanside, California, Zag got hold of Sebastian to hear his thoughts on the excellent news.
Zigzag: So what’s this about Dane voting you into the Quiksilver KOTG final?
Sebastian Williams: That’s so crazy, it’s awesome! Dane is just an incredible surfer, my favourite free surfer alongside Craig Anderson.
How did it come about?
Well, I had a few video clips from New Pier around all that Xenophobia time and the Quiksilver King of the Groms event came up. It was an online comp, with winners going to a grand final at some secret destination. So the first part was the Instagram challenge where we had to enter three 15 second clips. One was an air judged by Ando, one a carve judged by Dane, and another a combination of moves that Jeremy Flores judged.
What got you in?
Over 1000 people entered, but only 10 from each category were chosen. I got picked by Ando for a New Pier air I did. Funny thing is I had met him in December surfing at Port Alfred. We traded boards for a few waves, and he’s a really nice person.
The supergrom getting to work at Lower Point, J-Bay, during this year’s Billabong SA Junior Champs.
Then what?
So the 30 guys from the three categories had to do a two minute video. Seven guys were chosen by public votes, and three who didn’t get enough votes were chosen by the judges Dane, Ando and Jeremy. I guess Dane liked my video and put me into the final as a wildcard. I’m so stoked! And I want to thank everyone who tried hard to get me in and voted for my video. Thank you all!
Now what?
We go to a secret location for the surf off to decide who is the King of the Groms. Quiksilver haven’t told us where it is yet, but we heard rumours that it is a 14 day Indo boat trip. I hope so! There is supposed to be a live webcast too. My Dad gets to come as well.
So aside from the title and bragging rights, any money at stake?
Well just the trip is worth about $8,000. Then first prize is $20,000, and second is $10,000!
That’s some pretty serious gold for the groms. What are you going to do if you win?
I haven’t thought about that. Probably go on a boat trip (laughs)!
Got space for one more? Seriously, best of luck grom!
At this year’s Billabong SA Junior Champs at Lower Point, Sebastian’s surfing was a joy to watch. So we’re amped to see how he performs in the final of the King of the Groms.
