Owen set the pace in the opening round of the under-18 competition with the highest single wave score — 8.67 out of a possible 10 points.
He finished with a heat total of 14.34 to smoothly move to the next stage.
Owen won bronze in the under-16 division in El Salvador last year, but no New Zealand male has previously made the podium at under-18 level.
The Otago Boys’ High School student, who stunned the surfing community when he won the New Zealand open title aged 16 in January, has his sights set squarely on the podium.
“You always come to a comp to win — you don’t do a competition if you expect to lose,” Owen told the International Surfing Association.
“I was trying to sit a bit underneath [the waves] because the best ones are those mid-sized ones, and that’s what I co-ordinated with my coach, and it worked.
‘‘That bomb, the 8.67, came straight to me and I surfed it good, so I was stoked.
‘‘To be honest, when I was coming to Peru, I thought it was going to be like El Salvador, a real tropical, interesting place, but it’s so sick. It’s just dry, but the waves are so pumping, perfect point breaks, non-stop waves, all you can ask for.”
The world junior championships are being held at Punta Roca, a right and lefthand point break that, for the first two days, has delivered solid 1.5m-2m waves and good conditions.
This year’s event has a record 424 participants from 57 countries taking part.
Eleven of the 12 New Zealand surfers advanced through their opening heats.
Pauanui’s Groube sisters were matched together in the under-18 girls division, with Lola getting the edge over Chloe. Lola was among the top five heat scorers for the division after the first round, showing perfect execution with big, smooth backhand carves.
New Zealand flagbearer Leia Millar (Piha) also advanced through her heat.
Alani Morse (Raglan) and Poppy Arkle (Piha) completed a New Zealand 1-2 in their heat.
The New Zealand team placed 11th overall last year.
