Surfing World Magazine April 2017

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The Banana Hammock Dakoda Walters throws his arm in the air like he’s just doggie doored a 12 foot death closeout to win the Pipe Masters. Caleb Tancred, Samson Coulter, Taj Watson, and Josh Cattlin – the rest of our cast for the 2017 SW Grom Bash – respond with ecstatic hoots and screams. The chorus of cheers, whistles and laughter chirps up into the howling onshore and gets carried to the carpark where Corbin Nash sits forlornly shaking his head. The SW Art Director does not want to surf today. Gutless wind-ripped one foot dribble is not his bag. The groms are welcome to that shit. They’ve been surfing for three hours attacking every lump and bump that comes within reach. Their energy hasn’t been affected by the ungodly…

Dakoda Walters has the sort of whiplash sting through the back half of turns that only comes along a few times in every generation of kids. Andy had it. Dane has it. Noa has is it. Moxie. Attitude. Something slightly raw despite his sound surfing foundations. Don’t worry, we’re not labelling him as the next A.I. Reynolds, or Nozzle, kids don’t need that sort of expectation heaped on ’em, it’s just an ingredient that makes them and him a joy to watch. And it’s gonna be cool to see which path he chooses to go down with surfing, especially having enjoyed the luxury of so many great influences. Aside from the beautifully smooth lines of his dad Jeremy, Kodes paddles out daily with a roll call of eclectic talent spanning…

Aswell has hit. Solid. Josh is up at the car and into his wetsuit before anyone. He’s travelled the farthest to be here, all the way from Yallingup in southwest WA. So far the two foot onshore dribble we’ve served him has barely lifted the needle on his froth meter above …meh. Might have something to do with the fact he was missing biology, maths, and economics exams at school. Or maybe it was because his mates were sending him footage of the overhead barrels they were scoring back at home. Either way, he’s got the best teen mo we’ve seen in a long time and it’s nice to see the corners of it pointing upwards. Josh is mostly a quiet kid, happy to let the other groms chatter away…

It’s hard to believe that Caleb Tancred, a kind faced, blonde haired, blue eyed, toothy grinned kid from the NSW Cenny Coast, who is genuinely one of the nicest young human beings you’ll ever have the pleasure to meet, is also the most ruthlessly-driven, steely minded, freakishly talented, competitive animal to come out of Australia since Mick Eugene Fanning. It’s a conflict that’s even harder to resolve when you’re sharing a line up with him. “How perfect was that peak? That turn was sick! Man, pelicans are so cool!” Every word that comes out of his mouth has to fight its way through a permasmile of wonder. He might be the first kid in the universe who loves wettie rash and blue bottles, that’s how stoked he is. Refreshingly, he’s…