16-Year-Old Owen Causes Upset Win, Henderson Finds Her Rhythm

Sixteen year old Dunedin surfer Alexis Owen has caused a major upset at the 2025 National Surfing Championships presented by Toi Foundation, snatching the title from eight-time champion Billy Stairmand (Rag) and defending champion and local favourite Daniel Farr.

Owen was joined by Christchurch surfer Ava Henderson on the winners dias, Henderson returning to the winners circle after first winning the title as a 14-year-old surfer in 2020.

Stent Road was the venue for the final day of the event with New Zealand’s iconic righthand point break offering up excellent waves in the 1.0m range with variable winds all day.

Owen won the final on his last wave with seconds remaining, hearing his winning score on the rocks, bringing the young surfer to tears.

“I had no idea if I got the score, I knew it would be close, I surfed the wave for what it was, gave it everything, I had one shot, when I heard the score I broke out in tears, I got it, it was so good,” exclaimed Owen.

Owen started the final slow before surfing to a 7.5 point ride but was well behind the favoured surfers in Stairmand and Farr who both held a commanding advantage.

“I took deep breaths, told myself I could do it, got priority and there was time and then I looked out the back and there was a set and I let the surfing happen. I have surfed waves like that a million times and I did what I train every day for, I knew I could do it and I did it,” he added.

Owen finished with a 15.53 point heat total, his last wave of 8.03 points out of a possible 10 sealing the victory.

“I was planning to win the 18s and that didn’t go to plan so I was like far, I need to come back and do well in the opens and put it all on the line and I just can’t believe, I knew I could do it and I did it, I can’t believe it,” said Owen.

Nine-time champion Stairmand had to settle for second place after leading up until the dying stages of the final while Farr finished in third place ahead of Piha surfer Zen Wallis surfing in his first national final finishing in fourth.

Earlier in the day, Stairmand and Farr eliminated Tim O’Connor (Mnt) and George Roberts (Chch) in the first semifinal while Wallis and Owen defeated Tom Butland (Tara) and Theo Morse (Rag).

Ava Henderson only just made it to the Championships after ferry delays and travel complications but surfing on a borrowed board, the 19-year-old showed that her new care-free approach to surfing has severed her well and was the recipe for a second national title.

“I feel like now I am doing it for fun, back then I had a lot of pressure on myself but I came here this week to have fun and that’s what I did and I came out on top,” said Henderson whilst comparing today’s victory with her win as a 14-year-old in 2020.

“You can’t go wrong having fun, when I am relaxed, I feel like I surf a lot better, you can put a lot of pressure on yourself but a lot of the time it doesn’t work, not for me anyway,” she added.

Henderson surfed to a 16.43 point heat total for the win in a comfortable victory with 14-year-old Alani Morse (Rag) finishing runner up.

“My strategy was literally just to surf today, I went into the final super relaxed, I had had good heats during the day. I wanted to simply get two good waves and do two good turns on each wave’” she added.

Morse finished on a 13.93 with Taranaki surfers Ariana Shewry and Natasha Gouldsbury had to settle for third and fourth respectively.

In the semifinals Gouldsbury and Morse eliminated Stella Green (Aus) and Sage Fritchley (Mnt) in the first semifinal and Henderson and Shewry eliminated Liv Haysom (Piha) and Lola Groube (Pau).

The sixty second edition of the New Zealand National Surfing Championships has attracted a 400 plus field of participants for the mobile event along the Taranaki coastline.

It is the tenth time the event has been held in Taranaki the most recent being in 2019.

A total of 29 divisions are contested at the event including the premier Open Men and Women which commence on Thursday. Additional divisions include age groups from Under 14 boys and girls through to Over 70s for males and females and Longboard, Stand Up Paddleboard, Bodyboard, Kneeboard and adaptive disciplines.

Action takes place from 8am – 5pm daily. The daily schedule is posted the night prior on www.liveheats.com/surfingnz. The daily location will be confirmed once conditions are assessed at dawn each morning.

The event would not be possible without the support of the Toi Foundation. The 2025 National Surfing Championships is proudly hosted by New Plymouth Surfriders.

The 2025 National Surfing Championships commences both the domestic NZ Surf Series, NZ Grom Series and NZ Longboard Series with events scheduled around the country this summer.

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