Tough surfing ahead

They are South Africa's highest rated and most talented female surfers and on July 5, Heather Clark, Tamarys de Maroussem, Sarah Johnston and Sacha Moller will by vying for the prestigious Mr Price Pro title.

The four-star contest, with R140 000 in prize-money, has a strong line-up of top local and international campaigners including Serena Brooke, Rebecca Woods, Laurina McGrath, Sofia Mulanovich, Pauline Menczer and Dara Penfold.

Local women Rosanne Hodge (East London), Stacey Guy (Cape Town), Jessica Matthews (Durban), Tasha Mentasti (Durban) and Tammy Lee Smith (Salt Rock) are expected to cause a few upsets.

Three-times ASP Africa Pro Surf Tour champion De Maroussem (nee Walters) said she didn't feel very confident and believed the pressure was on recently crowned South African champ Moller and the South African WQS and WCT campaigners.

"I'm really nervous about this contest and am not putting pressure on myself. My goal is to make the semi-finals, however a spot in the finals would be great.

"I'd love to see Heather and Sarah in the final."

The Westbrook surfer said she had absolutely no expectations for the one-star Mr Price Nightsurfing Pro starting on Friday.

"I'm a bit blind, so the nightsurfing will be a disaster for me."

Warner Beach's Johnston has enjoyed a successful campaign on the WQS, where she currently lies in eighth position. The 21-year-old said she was looking forward to winning some prize-money and WQS points that would prove invaluable in her international campaign.

"I really enjoy both the nightsurfing and the Mr Price Pro and plan to give of my best to deliver the best possible results. After all, this is the biggest surfing contest in South Africa."

At last year's edition, Johnston was placed third in the nightsurfing and was knocked out in the Mr Price Pro quarter-finals.

"I'm really motivated to win and I think the pressure will be on Heather, Sacha and myself to deliver good results.

"Our biggest threats would be Silvana Lima, Mulanovich, McGrath, Woods, Hodge and Stacey Guy."

Moller, the sponsor's wildcard, said she anticipated a competitive and enjoyable contest.

The 24-year old Bluff surfer, said: "There's absolutely no pressure on me to perform. I've been training really hard, and plan to treat this as a normal competition."