After their recent history-making bodyboarding debut in the Peruvian Inka Challenge, Sam Bennett and Chase O’Leary continued to fly the Aussie flag for Port Macquarie last weekend at the Arica Chilean Challenge World Tour event. These two locals, joined by fellow Port Macquarie Bodyboarding Association (PMBA) member Jones Russell, competed in the Arica Trials.
About 80 competitors vied for the top seven places to continue through to the main event – joining the top 24 ranked riders in the world. O’Leary, Russell and Bennett were seeded through to Round 3.
O’Leary took out his first heat which got him through to the quarter finals, as did Russell with a second placing. Bennet struggled to find his rhythm coming off his Peruvian win. O’Leary bowed out to fellow Aussie Thomas Rigby and Renato Arellano from Chile in the quarters, whilst Russell showed his determination for a potential podium place, pulling first place to see him move forward to the semi’s, and taking third in the main event.
Surf conditions consisted of six-foot near-perfect bodyboarding waves with barrels and air manouveres blowing the huge Chilean crowds away. Damian King was fired up to maintain his No 1 world ranking in the DK division, as well as showing the huge crowds why he has been crowned two times World Champion.
It’s no wonder Port Mac is recognised as the “Bodyboarding Capital of Australia”.
With results like this from Bennett and the consistency O’Leary is displaying in their first ever sojourn into the world pro scene, there is no doubt local club PMBA will be right behind the boys after making bodyboarding history in Peru.
