The 2024 Groundswell Grind Skateboard Competition once again lit up Scarborough Beach, bringing together skaters from across Western Australia for the biggest bowl event of the year. This year’s competition didn’t disappoint, with intense rivalries, impressive new talent, and unforgettable moments that highlighted why this is one of WA’s most anticipated skate events. Held in the iconic Scarborough Beach bowl as part of the Groundswell Festival, the competition offered divisions for many age groups in both men’s and women’s divisions , including 9 years and under, 12 years and under, 16 years and under, Open, and the always impressive Masters division for skaters over 35. The Open Men’s and Women’s divisions continued to be crowd favorites, showcasing incredible skill and style with a $3000 prize purse on the line. With clear skies and a supportive crowd, skaters threw down their best tricks making the bowl come alive with energy and excitement. Each skater had 3 runs in the Scarborough Beach Bowl of 45 seconds with only their best run counting as their score. This allows them to be a bit more liberal with the tricks and lines knowing that with three runs they should produce some magic and get the points for the wins.
Zen Evans – Huge air and melon grab in the 12 – Photo Shane Taylor
Opening up the event was the 9 and under mens. It was all Levi Pagdanganan from the start. He was on fire with some fast skating great lines and his ollie airs were well above coping. Qualifying in first he stayed in that spot at the end of the finals. Elliott Hanly and Davie Howes also made it into the finals and tried hard to match Levi but just fell short in the points to challenge him. It was great to see them both making the finals. We also need to give a shout out to one of the most hyped skaters we know, Cab Constantine who missed out on the finals but we are sure he will be in there for 2025. The 9 Years and Under women was a full group of super charging skaters. In the qualifying it was Scarlett Harrington leading with 16.33 points and Pepper Connolly on 16 points with Rhenna Mottershead sitting on 15.33 points, it was a tight comp. Seeing Scarlett drop in the deep end of the bowl was just one of the highlights of the event. The deep end must be 10 times taller than she is. In the finals Pepper rolled through the Scarborough bowl with enough radness to take the win with 18.33 points to Scarlett’s 16.67.
In the 12 years and under men’s Oscar Blackburn ripped around the bowl well enough to take the win from Oliver Brown by only .66 of a point with the 3rd place joint to Liam Davie, It was great to see Oliver hitting up the big bowl and we hope to see more of his skating as we more forward into the future. The 12 Years and Under women’s only had two competitors but that did not stop the level of skating on display from both, It was Elena Riley taking the win from Addison Sie.
Up next was the 16 Years and Under Mens.The was another class that only had two competitors but not just any competitors we are talking about our next open place getters Otis Sienkewitz and Jake Turnbull. These two are a treat to watch, high airs, long grinds, are super rad lines. Either of these two could have taken the win but for Groundswell Grind 2024 it was Otis (34.33 points) who just had the edge over Jake (33.00 points), Watch for both of them making move into the open class. The 16 Years and Under Women’s belonged to Lali Perroni who has had a few years of competition experience taking the win by 4 points. 2nd place went to Hayley Norris who had only just started competing in skateboard competitions about 8 months ago. Taking the third it was great to see Ava Knibbs getting into it and showing no fear skating such a massive big bowl.
Clockwise from Top Left – Gogo Dale in the 12 with a slash grind. – Vai Evans plays in the 12 like its nothing. – James Rixom getting some serious airtime. – Grant Huggins rocks it up, showing us age is just a number – Find the full album of photos on our Facebook page here
The masters, the over 35’s. This was one of the highlights of the Groundswell Grind. With eight competitors it was the biggest class of skaters. Seeing Laura Brown getting into it was amazing, such an inspiration to many and we hope she continues to inspire both young and old to take up skateboarding. But the masters was dominated by the legend Grant Huggins, he was untouchable. So much power and style, rock n roll in the deep end, hand plants, board slides, 50/50’s he had it all. You can tell he knows skateboarding, it was a treat to watch. Coming in second was Herb Faust who also is an accomplished skater but was 6 points behind Grant in the finals. Third place went to the legend Junior Linke, The oldest skater in the competition, its rumored he is 60 but doesn’t look a day over 21. We also need to mention the other oldies Jon Root, Geoff Knibbs, Jeremy Watkins and Joe Mack. Watching these skaters hit the bowl proved that skateboarding is a lifelong journey, and their presence was inspiring to both the young and the seasoned crowd.
The Open divisions saw intense competition with big names going head-to-head. In the men’s open class during qualifying it was all James Rixom (31.67 points), he was untouchable qualifying 4 points higher than 2nd qualifier Cruz Evans (27.67points). The top 4 were going into a final, and what a final it turned out to be. Qualifying in 3rd was Vai Evans (25.33 points) and the youngest of the Evans Brothers, Zen got the 4th (24.67 points). This was going to be a final unmatched in Groundswell Grind history. First out for the finals was Zen Evans and right from the start it was on. We thought he skated well in qualifying, the finals was just something else, his speed, varials, grinds and lines were exceptional, it’s like he was holding back in the qualifying, everything was clean. A very deserving win for the 2024 Groundswell Grind to Zen Evans with a finals score of 37.33 and $700 richer. Taking the 2nd place was James Rixom who skated phenomenally with some of the highest airs and longest board slides we have seen at Groundswell Grind but missed out on the top spot by a few points with a score of 35.00 points and taking home $500. Third place didn’t move with Vai Evans remaining there but upping his score with 28.67 points and winning $300 for his radicalness. Flowing into 4th place was Cruz Evans with 28.00 points, a close one. The men’s open class was missing last year’s Groundswell Grind winner Adam Pacynko who was super pumped for the competition and had been preparing for it for months, had his runs down and knew every part of the bowl. His first run dropped in the deep end, hit the first wall with an air, hit the second wall and then fell to flat bottom using his elbow as a stopping mechanism, which we all know doesn’t work. It was a trip to the hospital and some surgery to make it all better. His resilience and sportsmanship were a reminder of the passion and grit that make skateboarding such a tight-knit community. There is always 2025 Adam and we hope to see you in the mix. Shout out also to Jake Smith and Khailani Nielsen for taking on the behemoth of Scarborough Beach bowl.
Mia Kretzer – Invert on the hip
The Women’s Open belonged to Mia Kretzer who’s been on a whirlwind skateboard trip this year with international competitions, Xgames gold medals, Guinness world records and everything in between but Groundswell Grind is still her favorite competition, it’s on home turf with her community and friends. Mia had some epic runs, frontside smith grinds, kickflip disasters, hand plants and fakie 540’s. It was full. 35.00 points and $700. Second place went to Hailee Roberts. Hailee had some great runs showing how she knows the bowl like the back of her hand, 31.00 points and $500. Third place was all on Gogo Dale from Margaret River with 28.67 points and $300. It’s been great seeing their progress over the past few years in skateboarding and they have a great skate career in front of them. Looking forward to see Gogo rip it up in 2025
Groundswell Grind is a day filled with camaraderie, excitement, and unforgettable moments, showcasing the unique spirit and culture of the skateboarding community. Its a day when the skateboard community comes together and celebrates all things skateboarding, young or old, beginners or high rollers, it makes no difference everyone is there for the joy skateboarding brings. It’s about forming a community, making new friends, seeing old friends and getting some introduced into skateboarding and just being involved.
A massive thank you goes out to the City of Stirling for making this event possible and all our sponsors, Modus bearings, Maple Road Skateboards, Aikenheads Skateboards, Sneaky Wholefoods, Red Dragon Skateboards, The Four Skateboard Co, Momentum Skateshop and Livid Skate. Big shout out to DJ Bamm B for pushing out the tunes all day and bringing the energy with the tracks. It wouldn’t be a groundswell grind without you.
We would like to thank our partner, Right By You. Rightbyyou.org.au is a mental health resource made for young people, by young people. There is easy to understand, useful information on the website if you or your friends are in a mental health crisis situation.
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Clockwise from Top Left – Levi Pagdanganan was skating this bowl like he lives in it. – Lali Perroni getting right over the coping. – Junior Linke making it look easy in the 10. – Hailey Roberts throwing it down in the 12 – Find the full album of photos on our facebook page here
Groundswell Grind – Official Results – 6th October 2024
9 Years under men’s – 1st Levi Pagdanganan, 2nd Elliott Hanly, 3rd Davie Howes, 4th Cab Constantine, 5th Max James
9 Years under woman’s – 1st Pepper Connolly, 2nd Scarlett Harrington, 3rd Rhenna Mottershead, 4th Maya Van Den Broek, 5th Talitha Van Den Broek, 6th Mikaela Oey
12 Years under men’s – 1st Oscar Blackburn, 2nd Oliver Brown, 3rd Liam Davie
12 Years under women’s – 1st Elena Riley, 2nd Addison Sie
16 Years under men’s – 1st Otis Sienkewitz, 2nd Jake Turnbull
16 Years under women’s – 1st Lali Perroni, 2nd Hayley Norris, 3rd Ava Knibbs
Masters – 1st Grant Huggins, 2nd Herb Faust, 3rd Junior Linke, 4th Jon Root, 5th Geoff Knibbs, 6th Jeremy Watkins, 7th Joe Mack, 8th Laura Brown
Open men’s – 1st Zen Evans, 2nd James Rixom, 3rd Vai Evans, 4th Cruz Evans, 5th Jake Smith, 6th Khailani Nielsen, 7th Adam Pacynko
Open women’s – 1st Mia Kretzer, 2nd Hailee Roberts, 3rd Gogo Dale
