Sep 15, 2025 6:12 PM EDT

After nice days of waves at La Bocana, two finalists emerged victorious at the ISA World Surfing Games. Dane Henry of Australia and Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri of Spain won the men’s and women’s individual gold medals, respectively. 

The word historic gets overused these days, but in this case, for both finalists, it’s warranted. For Dane, a 19-year-old surfer from Queensland who even Mick Fanning can’t help notice, it was storybook stuff. Dane won the ISA World Junior Games last year, then one-upped himself by winning the big show over the weekend. The list of other surfers who can claim to have both titles is slim and vaunted: Tom Curren, Gabriel Medina, and Jordy Smith. That’s it. 

“That is a crazy club to be a part of,” said Dane, who demolished the playful rights in the final to handily beat Olympic gold medalist Kauli Vaast and former CT top-five surfer Morgan Cibilic. “The whole time I had belief in myself that I could do it. My surfing’s been feeling spot on. I really wanted to really shine in the Final and I’m really glad that I got the opportunity to do that. Competing against guys like Kauli, Morgan and Douglas [Silva], you’ve got to pull out the best. I have a really special connection with this place and this competition now. I felt really in my element, which definitely pushed me through and helped me get the win.”


It was a long time between drinks for Australia, which had not won the ISA World Games as a team for 14 years. This win is the county’s sixth team gold and 16th total medal. Meanwhile, Janire’s win was historic in its own right. Her victory marked Spain’s first-ever gold medal at the ISA World Surfing Games. She did it against the most decorated ISA surfer in history, four-time winner Sally Fitzgibbons. The Australian finished in third place, adding a sixth WSG medal to her collection. Janire’s points boosted Spain to third place in the team standings, which equaled its best-ever team result (a third in 2017).

Spanish surfer Janire Etxabarri leans into a wave in El Salvador.

“It’s like I’m sleeping in a dream and all of this is not real,” said Janire, the only goofyfoot in the final. “I just have no words. I’m super happy and I don’t know what to say. I was paddling out super happy and just grateful to be in the final and to be able to maybe get the gold. I made it, but I just wanted to enjoy my heat and show my surfing. I wasn’t thinking about the gold, I was thinking about wave-by-wave and just showing my surfing. I’m super happy.”


2025 ISA World Surfing Games Results

Team
Gold – Australia
Silver – Peru
Bronze – Spain
Copper – France

Team Australia wins the 2025 ISA World Surfing Games

Men
Gold – Dane Henry (AUS) (18.17)
Silver – Kauli Vaast (FRA) (17.57)
Bronze – Morgan Cibilic (AUS) (14.77)
Copper – Douglas Silva (BRA) (13.60)

Women
Gold – Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri (ESP) (14.57)
Silver – Yolanda Hopkins (POR) (13.57)
Bronze – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) (13.57)
Copper – Arena Rodriguez (PER) (8.53)

About the author

Original Post from this site

By admin

SurfinDaddy has been hanging around the periphery of the web since 2001 – but the dawn of 2021 sees us ready to jump into the fray. No longer content to be an outsider (but loving that our readership will be those who love the outdoors) we’re poised to become your online resource for all things related to boardsports.