Cape Town - The World Junior Surfing Championships underway at Playa Venao in Panama observed a minute's silence on Saturday for the Cape Town body boarder who was killed by a great white shark.
David Lilienfeld, 20, a champion body boarder, died on Thursday at Kogel Bay between Gordon's Bay and Rooi Els in the Western Cape when he was attacked by a shark.
Surfing South Africa general manager Robin de Kock said in a statement on Saturday that Lilienfeld had been a Team South Africa body boarder in 2011.
He said International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre addressed participants from 31 nations saying Lilienfeld's death was “a tragic loss of a fellow waterman”.
In Cape Town on Saturday a memorial service was held at Camps Bay beach for Lilienfeld.
A group of surfers paddled out to the back line in memory of Lilienfeld, said eyewitness to the attack, Matt Marais.
The body boarder was in the water with his younger brother when the shark, estimated at between four and five metres, attacked him. “What was supposed to be a fun day at the beach turned out to be any surfer's worst nightmare and it happened in minutes, in front of my eyes,” Marais said at the time.
Lilienfeld had been lying on his body board waiting for a wave to surf when a dorsal fin appeared.
After the attack the Department of Environmental Affairs cancelled a research permit for the filming of sharks.
Documentary maker Chris Fischer had been luring the predators by throwing bait into the water. - Sapa