Get To Know New WSL Challenger Series Athlete George Pittar.
From growing up in Vanuatu, moving to Manly and making the WSL Challenger Series… George has the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 WSL Championship Tour in his first year competing on the Challenger Series. We caught up with the CS rookie to learn a little more about his life in and outside of competitive surfing. Enjoy.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, who you surf with & what a typical day looks like for you at home.
"Well I spent the first 10 years of my life living overseas in Vanuatu and moved back to Australia when I was about 11. Now I live in Manly, where we definitely don’t get the greatest waves but there’s always something happening."
"My typical day at home will consist of walking my dog in the morning and grabbing a coffee, then picking up my mates Axel and Tiaan and either surfing manly or finding a wave around the beaches, then grabbing a feed and surfing again then finishing the day with a gym session."
You qualified for the CS with a super strong finish in the last QS event of the season, give us a little insight into that last event and what was required.
"Yeah, that last event changed my life in so many ways. Going into that event I was pretty down on confidence because I had felt my goal from that year was slipping out of my hands, but I just tried to change my mentality to look at it as an opportunity to put my best surfing forward with nothing to lose. As the event progressed I found myself in a headspace with confidence and belief, which I hadn’t felt for a long time."
"Although I felt confident, the pressure that was mounting over the next coming days grew greater and greater. I had made it to the quarterfinals and knew I needed to make that heat to qualify for the CS. I was so nervous but when I reached the water I became pretty calm with a clear idea of what I needed to do, and ended up making the heat. The feeling of relief afterwards was unbelievable just realising I had achieved my goal and my rest of the year was changed. It was definitely a special moment and one that I will remember for a long time."
1. What is your goal for the Challenger Series season this year? How have you found it after the first two CS events (Snapper & Narrabeen)?
"My goal for the challenger is obviously to qualify for the tour. Although my mindset is more focused on being able to be competitive at that level, learn from each event and better myself as a surfer."
"...The first two events were a realisation almost for me, I realised how high the level of surfing is, how surreal it is to be included with these types of surfers and how much I have to improve but it’s a cool thing to understand at my age. I’m just really grateful."
2: What did you do in preparation for your first CS season & is there anything that you need to focus on after the first 2 events?
"Mainly for the first two events I spent a lot of time in the gym staying fit and healthy, spent time surfing the waves of the event and dialing in my equipment. After the first two events I recognised that I need more variety in my surfing and also I need to put on more weight to look like a man like these other guys do."
3: Do you have any competition rituals or habits that you follow?
"Not really, I like to be pretty easy going before a heat but I enjoy listening to music and blocking out all the other stuff for a bit."
4: What stop on the CS are (were) you most looking forward to?
"Definitely Portugal, I’ve never been to Europe and I’m going over early with Alister and a few mates and it will just be a really fun trip I think."
5: What boards are you riding through the CS and why?
"I’ve been riding Channel Island boards, because I feel super connected to them and no matter what conditions are on offer I have the perfect board for them."
6: Favourite wave in the world and why?
"Honestly, a good day at the Island Right in Vanuatu. It’s a wave I grew up on and know the back of my hand and just brings back a lot of memories for me."
7: Dream heat… who’s in it and what are the waves like?
"Probably a day out offshore Bells, with everyone there on Easter Sunday and I’m in it with Kelly in the final. That’d be nice."
8. Finally, can you tell us something about yourself that most crew wouldn’t know?
"Probably that I grew up in Vanuatu and learnt to surf on a perfect right hand reef break with no one out."
