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Matt Bromley is 1/5th of the way to winning about R150k worth of prizes. Matt won both the reader votes and the judges’ votes in the first month, so he’s must have done something right. If you’re entering the Oakley One Wave Wonder, then you’re probably interested to know what it is that he did right. So we asked the judges to tell us how/where/why they chose last month’s winner. Because as the old saying goes, it’s impossible to build the future without knowing the past.

John Paarman: (chose the Bromley wave)
Twiggy’s Mavericks drop and cover up were intense, but Matt’s wave at Backdoor grabbed me. It had the everything I am looking for in an entry; solid wave, great execution, beautiful water colour and nicely captured angle

Jarvi: (chose the Bromley wave)
I love the fact that Matt is lurking amongst the pack, looking for a gap. He sees the gap when the other dude opts to go left, and then he just totally commits. It’s a thick wave and Matt shows style and composure all the way through the sections. The angle is slightly from the side, looking in, and if you know Backdoor it’s obvious that Matt is deep deep. The final barrel section is just the cherry on top. Twiggy at Mavs is also sick, and I really liked Matt Pallet’s tight, funnelling secret spot tube, but Matt gets my vote.

Dave Weare: (Chose Bromley wave)
I choose Matt Bromley at Backdoor. It was a huge tussle between Twiggy at Pea’hi and Bromley at Backdoor. Twiggy’s wave is huge and windy and definitely extremely gnarly and life threatening! Bromley’s was intense and a big long pit at Backdoor. I watched both these clips over 20 times each to make this call. It came down to who’s shoes would I rather be in on both these waves and Bromley gets my nod. Just my opinion.

Alan van Gysen: (Chose Bromley wave)
Matt’s ride had the wow factor for me, and it jumped out and demanded my attention. It was an excellently executed ride at a heavy wave with serious pressure from the local crowd.

We also caught up with grom winner Adin Masencamp to ask him about his campaign in the Oakley One Wave Wonder, and the new Safari board that he’s just won:

Introduce yourself for those readers who don’t yet know who Adin Masencamp is.
I am a 12 year-old grom surfer that spends every second thinking about surfing. My home break is Strand, but I’m always trying to get around the coast to surf as many different types of waves as possible. I’m currently a team rider for O’Neill, Blank surfboards and Natural Energy surf shop. I’m the current u/13 South African Champion and plan on defending my title at the S.A Champs at the end of the year in this same age division. I’m super focused and put a lot of effort into my training, and stoked to be getting extra coaching from Llewellyn Whittaker. I have my provincial colours in surfing, swimming and junior life saving, but my true passion is surfing. My life goal is to be on the WCT and win a couple of world titles.

Well you’re starting on the right foot. Dropping your sponsors name at every turn is a skill that will serve you well. Tell us about that wave, do you remember it?
It was such a sick set! I waited a while for that one and when it came through I was in the perfect position, on the inside. I took off just behind Peanut and the wave just bowled up, allowing me to do some powerful carves in the pocket. It had a last bowl to it at the end of the wave, and I pulled in and got a little cover up. I pulled out and spun off the back of the wave and knew that I had a shot at the 1wavewonder. A photographer also got some awesome shots of my wave, so I was stoked.

Your vid ends with “focus, trust, believe”. What’s that about?
My coach Llewellyn Whittaker always tells me to FTB – focus on what I want to achieve and what I plan to do, trust in my abilities and in God, and believe I can do it. It really helps me to get amped on giving my all and to get in the zone, especially for contests.

Stoked with the board?
Yeah, I’m so stoked to be winning a custom shaped board from Spider. Shot Spider!

Dave Weare said the following of your wave when we asked the judges for a call: “A full complete wave, showing a lot of maturity through his turns, laying it on the rail with some style and only 12 yrs old, very impressive.” How does that make you feel?
It’s insane to hear feedback like that – coming from a pro like Davey that’s been on tour and gone where I want to go with my surfing – that just amps me up even more.

Are we going to see any more Oakley One Wave Wonder entries from you?
For sure! I get so amped on good surf, and I want every wave to be a 1ww, I just need to make sure the cameras are always rolling. – Adin

Check out Adin’s grom division winning ride below: