Taking on the top pairing from each state, the girls out-surfed their rivals to sail through the competition undefeated. 

Air said neither she nor Hargreaves expected to take out the competition, but they were both thrilled to have done so.

“It’s really cool to be a national champion,” Air said. “It’s crazy. 

“We didn’t expect to do so well, we only just got through from state, so it’s pretty crazy. We weren’t expecting to win. 

“Everyone at school who heard it, they were congratulating us, which was pretty cool.”

With the scoring combining each surfer’s top wave score, teams needed to ensure both surfers had enough time to catch a high-scoring wave.

Whereas many teams struggled to find this balance, the Bulli girls were able to make the most of the limited time they had in the water in each heat to ensure they both came out with a high-scoring wave. 

“We both just got good enough scores and managed our time pretty well. We both got similar scores, they weren’t too big scores, but just enough.

“We made sure we had enough time for both of us to get the right wave to get a good score.”

Air’s successful event was capped when she was named in an honorary Australian team that recognised the competition’s top performers. 

The girls were joined in South Australia by a host of the Illawarra's top surfers, who were competing in the Surfing Australia-aligned Australian Junior Surfing Titles. 

Oceanna Rogers proved she has the ability to match it with Australia’s top surfers, finishing third in the under 14 girls final. The result capped a fantastic week of surfing for the Shellharbour talent. 

Port Kembla’s Charli Hurst also matched it with her rivals throughout the event, claiming fourth position in the under 16 girls final.