Van Dijk blitzes at Bell’s Beach

JOE Van Dijk of Phillip Island has taken out his second consecutive Play it Safe by the Water Junior Challenge at Bells Beach on Monday, March 21.
The powerful natural footer was on fire all day surfing multiple heats in both this event and the Premiers Active April Trials.
In a wave-starved final, Van Dijk was able to lock in a heat total of 12.27 ahead of Tane Bowden (Jan Juc) who placed in second on 11.26 points.
“I’m pretty happy. This is my last year I can compete in the event so its nice to win it again” said Van Dijk.
“I had surfed 5 times already today and was so tired in the final so I was lucky to get a couple of waves.”
Placing in third was Tully Wylie (Jan Juc) who finished on a heat total of 6.17. In fourth was Billy Harrison (Barwon Heads) on 2.67 points.
The Play it Safe by the Water Junior challenge aims to increase awareness of the risks of drowning amongst males. It also aims to empower surfers to help rescue swimmers who may be in trouble.
“Where I am from can be quite dangerous and I have had to rescues some swimmers who get caught in rips” said winner Van Dijk.
Results:
1st Joe Van Dijk (Phillip Island) – 12.27 Points
2nd Tane Bowden (Jan Juc) – 11.26 Points
3rd Tully Wylie (Jan Juc) – 6.17 Points
4th Billy Harrison (Barwon Heads) – 2.67 Points
The Play it Safe by the Water Junior Challenge is funded via the Victorian Governments Water Safety Initiative, Play it Safe by the Water and supported by Surfing Victoria.
Full results can be found online at surfingvic.com

Joe Van Dijk: wins back to back Play it Safe by the Water Junior Challenge titles. Photo courtesy Cahill Bell-Warren.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Mar 23 2016. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry