Some might say of big wave surfers that they have ”rocks in their heads”. Well, Fish Hoek boasts one who has just that. Surfer ‘dude’ Bjorn von der Heyden has been awarded the prestigious Haughton award for the top Geology Honours thesis in South Africa.
Bjorn has grown up in Fish Hoek, attending Bay Primary School and the Fish Hoek High Schools where he achieved not only academically but also on the sporting field. As a youngster he represented Western Province in a national karate championship, was selected to take part in Western Province Schools Cross-country trials, played first team waterpolo, for several years was one of the four team members forming the top scholars’ team in the Boland 90 Hiking Competition and was also an active member of the 2nd Fish Hoek Scout group, one of the best Scouting groups in the country.
After taking a gap year Bjorn registered at Stellenbosch University to study Geology and has recently returned from a 10 month stint at Princeton University. Over the next two years he will be completing his PhD at both Stellenbosch and Princeton.
The following article about Bjorn which appeared in the Cape Argus on the 27 September 2010. (Click on the article to view.)
