By Andrea Swayne
Jett Schilling, 10, of San Clemente has come a long way since first being featured as a Grom of the Week in January of 2012.
Back then he had less than a year’s worth of competition under his belt, but caught our attention with wins in the Micro Grom divisions of the San Clemente Seafest and Western Surfing Association contests.
At that time he had recently relocated to San Clemente from Northern California and was enjoying practicing every day, getting to know his new home breaks.
Since then, this uber-talented goofy footer has become one of the area’s most formidable competitors.
Currently rated No. 8 in the NSSA Explorer Boys and No. 2 in NSSA Open Boys, Jett has also qualified to join the invitation-only elite ranks of the Surfing America Prime series.
At the last Prime event, Dec. 14 at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point, Jett mastered the big swell all day, building on his performance round-by-round.
In the final, he became apex predator of The Point, killing it to seal the win on a big left set wave. Jett airdropped in late and immediately squared off the bottom, setting himself up for a committed floater on a super ledgey section. He then followed that up with two high-noon-vertical hits on the inside for a perfect 10-point score.
We can’t wait to see what 2015 brings for this dedicated and skilled athlete.
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