AT THE BEACH | ‘Super Six’ women redefine limits in global surf adventure

I am ever so slightly in a state of shock and awe at the moment.

I just can’t get over the latest Red Bull sports film/documentary, Now Days.

This is a full surf film of the current cutting-edge of women’s surfing and it is a long way beyond radical.

We are talking about eye-popping and jaw-dropping red-hot surfing here.

Even when put side to side with men’s surfing, these young women are completely ripping.

I am not much into energy drinks but next time I buy one, on account of this film, cinematography, content, format and contribution to international surfing for both men and women, I will drink a Red Bull and acknowledge “The Super Six”.

Please google “Now Days Red Bull surfing movie” on the internet and see what I am talking about.

In the bad old days, women’s surfing was somewhat relegated to bikini contests on a ramp and dismal heats in marginal waves with poor prize money.

Our own Wendy Botha (four times world champion) from erstwhile East London (now KuGompo), along with US friends such as Frieda Zamba, Lisa Anderson and Kim Mearig, as well as Pam Burridge, Pauline Menczer and Jodie Cooper from Australia, kicked against the status quo and bust down the door so to speak.

Slowly, prize money and choice of waves for women’s events began to creep up, as did sponsorships, respect and performances.

In 2011, a groundbreaking women’s surf documentary hit the ether.

Nike had decided they were going to enter the surf wear market and their opening access point was going to be women’s surfing.

They put their hand up and signalled their intent with, to my mind, one of the hottest surf films ever launched.

Nike 6.0 Leave a Message — Carissa Moore, Lakey Peterson, Laura Enever, Coco Ho, Monyca Byrne-Wickey and Malia Manuel went on a surf trip together to a number of world class surf spots and with no contest pressure but all excitement turned on, they tore the ocean to shreds.

Along with meaningful short interviews, these young women expressed words, thoughts, philosophy and affirmations that they live by and how and why they love the ocean so much and why they enjoy pushing their limits and the outer boundaries of women’s surfing.

I recall when Leave a Message came out, some guys were in shock and others were just in straight denial.

I recall comments such as “nah mate, chicks don’t surf like that, that has been speeded up and photoshopped”.

AI had not been invented for doctoring surfing movies in 2011.

This movie was a catalyst for a seismic jump in women’s surfing.

I was staggered that after entering the market with such a bang that Nike then decided not to pursue surfing?

“We were all brave together” — Meeghan Heenop tells me about being scared out of her wits at the Surf Emporium SA Longboard Championships, but paddling out with her teammates anyway in giant waves at Jeffreys Bay Lower Point. This is both the beauty and the beast of a surfing competition. Sometimes you are “forced” to go out in waves that you think are far beyond you, and in the end you generally find out that you are tougher than you think. At a competition like the SA Championships, where the Border longboard team achieved third place, there are enough eyes on you to help quickly if anything starts to go wrong. Readers might recall last week when monster surf came through Buffalo City. Jeffreys Bay was not spared by this storm and the waves stood up to such epic proportions that the competition was put on hold for a time. By the time Meeghan, Neve Bowen and Anne Steiner paddled out, the waves had dropped to a more manageable state, but still looked outside of their abilities. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is that Meeghan, Neve and Anne are living their best lives, riding the challenge with the rest of the 37 members in the Border longboard team, and regardless of results in the event, exited the water victorious. Some days your opponent is your competition and on other days, the sea is your competition. Exit the sea in one piece and you have won. It is quite a surprise that in this event only two longboards were snapped in half. Waves of this size usually claim more equipment. The Border team have reason to be proud of their result. Over the past few years, they have tended to field a team of 19 or 20 surfers, finishing sixth. Between the likes of Wendy Miller, Jason Bowen and the local committee, the energy in our local longboard club has soared to 40 surfers and the team ramped home in third place behind Eastern Province and Western Province. Recently converted to longboarding, U18 Ndalo Langa has a history in shortboard surfing and he picked up on the new team vibe quickly. “Everyone is really kind and everyone supports each other,” he said. “It feels like one big family. “The best experience was that the waves were good and people were mellow and calm. No-one was cocky.” His mother, Vuyo Langa, also noticed the difference in the spirit of the event. “I absolutely enjoyed the longboard experience,” she said. “As a first time parent in longboarding, I did not find myself wondering or having to ask. “The leaders of the team were courteous and engaging. Big ups to Wendy and Jason for being very organised. “I found the people to be very relaxed. “Interesting observation of the surfers — you’d swear they were not in a competition. “They seemed to be really competing for fun and probably competing with themselves more than others. “There was no competitive tension and generally a high spirit.” Ex-Gauteng-born-and-raised Meeghan has somehow always wanted to be a surfer. In her high school years, she explained to her mother that she was going to waitress in J-Bay and become a surfer. With a little bit of pressure from mom and dad, she ended up studying a BSc and qualifying as a dietician. Dreams do come true and after marrying her man, Erhard, they moved to the coast to live in Gonubie, Buffalo City. Coached into the waves by local surfer, Dr Welman Bartleman, Meeghan has found her tribe in the local longboard club. Thanks to live heats broadcast on the internet, mom in Gauteng was able to watch her daughter surf the waves of J-Bay. For some time, mom has perhaps been hoping that daughter and son-in-law might return to Egoli, the city of gold, but all of a sudden it is apparent there is more gold down at the sea than inland. That which glitters is at the end of a good ride on a nine-foot longboard. Ask Meeghan Heenop — she will confirm it. Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone

Well, 2026 and the new young crew have got the message and they are running with it like a herald to the stars.

Now Days features Caroline Marks (US), Caity Simmers (US), Molly Picklum (Australia), Erin Brooks (Canada), Sierra Kerr (Australia/US) and Sky Brown (UK), just 17 years old!

This film tracks these young women surfing through Indonesia, Tahiti, Mexico and SA.

They are surfing better than I did in the best of my dreams in the best of my days.

I have never once even vaguely imagined an aerial 360º rotation.

Particularly Brown, who comes from Olympic skateboarding background, has translated her vertical bowl skating experience into surfing and is landing some phenomenal flips.

Brooks and Kerr, with bucket loads of wave pool perfection and consistency, have honed some diabolical skills that they have now taken to the ocean.

Picklum demonstrates her mobility, hip flex and warm up routine in an exercise she calls 90/90 level 1, 2, 3 in another short video and you can see why she is the current world champion.

Keaton Stansfeld, 22, has wings on his heels. When this young man hits the tarmac, he flies. Mind you, over rocks, rivers, sand, track, trail, mountains and streams, he does the same. Keaton was this year’s winner at The Discovery Surfers Challenge. As is usually the case, I was working at the Gonubie River mouth with the marathon hosts, Buffalo City Surfing, to welcome and direct the challenge athletes to the ropes and river crossing. Keaton was the first athlete to the river, remarkably well ahead, over in a flash and gone like a rocket. I caught up with him earlier this week to find out more about him. Keaton hails from Johannesburg. Perhaps he finds the air at the coast moist and thick and full of oxygen and energy? He is a provincial athlete across an outrageous nine different sports. He is humble about it, too, and almost surprised that this writer thinks his achievements are fantastic. Dad is an all-round athlete and encouraged son to have a crack at almost everything, including badminton (green and gold representation), athletics (he has run and competed at world cross country in Kenya), hockey (been on a school trip to Malaysia/Singapore), baseball (provincial) and swimming (provincial). He has played provincial soccer, competing in Barcelona, Spain, and played provincial cricket. I think he was about to tell me more but I was about to fall off my chair so he stopped. Keaton related all of this without much fanfare as if his achievements are quite normal. Both his dad and grandmother have represented South Africa at “everything” he tells me. Sports genes completely run in the family. Don’t think for a moment that this means school and academic work takes a back seat. Mom, also an athlete, is a principal, so school work has never been allowed to suffer. Since about the age of 10 Keaton has always known what he wants to do, but selection was impossible, so off he went to Tuks to study a degree for town and regional planning. After his second year at varsity, his dream came through. Keaton has always wanted to be an air traffic controller. He finally got accepted, dropped his degree and stepped into ATC. Full qualification takes about 12 years. This young man is not frightened of a long haul. He is in for the long run. Currently, Keaton is working for Air Traffic and Navigation Services as assistant to the tower at King Phalo Airport here in Buffalo City. It takes about three to five years to get into the tower. Keaton is living his dream and still running while he is about it. Doors have a habit of opening for him, and blessing and favour seem to be in front of him, beside him and behind him. His hero athlete is Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge for both his decades-long athleticism and incredible mindset. Keaton is a very mindful young man. Three priorities he impressed upon me included: 1 Be a good person; 2 Be humble; and 3 Life is more important than any medal. Keaton likes to put God first. He follows his faith at Gonubie Baptist Church while he is here, and then family, friends, coach, physio and sport psychologist are relationships that follow out of that. If you don’t rule your mind, your mind will rule you I asked Keaton what words he lives by or what quotable quotes keep him focused: “Effortless is a myth. It takes years of hard work and you have to embrace the hard work because there is no way around it. “If you don’t rule your mind, your mind will rule you. Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and emotions.” Keaton has his eyes and heart set on the Olympics 2032. Possibly 5,000m or 10,000m. At the current rate of progress, I wonder if 2028 might even be a possibility? I can’t help but think of Eric Liddell. “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure”. It would appear God has made Keaton Stansfeld fast too. Indeed, I shall feel His pleasure when I see this young champion in our country’s colours at the Olympics. Run like the wind Keaton. Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone

Her talent, physicality and tenaciousness that she displays to be No 1 in the “Super Six” is phenomenal.

Corporate and country sponsorship has moved to a new space in supporting women’s surfing.

Sponsorship of the film and trip is a real shot in the arm for the women.

They have current digital media working for them because every time they film a radical clip, it is instantly circulated among them and the new bar height and goal is immediately set and straight away it is the next target.

Meaningful wave pool training, dieticians, sport psychologists, biokineticists, life skills coaches, physiotherapists, surf board shapers and new approaches to sponsorship and support are driving women’s surfing through the stratosphere.

It surely is a spectacle to behold.

Athletic excellence of the highest order.

The women have stepped away from trying to match men with raw foot-to-foot power and are leaning into their own lane of flexibility, agility, flow, timing, positioning, excellence and speed, and I can tell you it looks great.

I am interested to see how men’s surfing is going to respond to this.

Cheers Red Bull, you have made a fantastic contribution to the entire sport of surfing, and particularly to women. Salute.

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