Dream big, stay positive, work hard, and enjoy the journey.
Recent Events
Over the past week I competed in the NZ Schools Surf Champs in Raglan, which is hosted by the Raglan Surfing Academy. The U16 girls division was combined with the U18 girls. When we arrived in Raglan the waves were massive and there was so much current it looked like a mission to get out. On the 1st day of the comp I didn’t surf as only the older boys surfed their first heats. On the 2nd day the U16/18 girls surfed their first heats right at the end of the day. In my 1st round heat I surfed really well and was stoked to get the highest heat score of our division which meant I went in to the semis. On the 3rd and final day the conditions had changed and it was quite small and sadly I went out in the semis which wasn’t the result I was looking for but I still ended up 3rd in the U16 girls. I learnt heaps that I’ll take into the next comp.
What I’ve been working on
Over the past couple of months I’ve been going to some workshops with Sport Taranaki about sport nutrition, psychology, and much more and everything is super helpful and I cant wait for the next ones. I’ve spent some time watching an WSL event at Huntington Beach, California, where I’ll be competing in the 2019 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in October. This event is called the Super Girl Pro. It was super exciting to see a 16 year old not only in the nal but winning the whole event. This goes to show that anyone can achieve their dreams if they really believe in them and put their head down and work for it. I try to watch as many events at Huntington Beach as possible to watch see how it works.
Challenges and Opportunities
A recent challenge I’ve had is selecting my school subjects for next year which is a really important year with NCEA. The interviewer at my Course selection interview said that since I’ve done really well over the last year there are lots of doors open which makes it really hard to choose but super exciting as there are so many epic subjects to choose from.
Local news
Last week there was a big swell. At Backs Beach a man was walking his dog in knee deep water and a strong wave swept him off his feet, with a rip then dragging him out to sea fully clothed. Luckily the alarm was quickly raised and he was rescued 600m off shore by Port Taranaki staff and has since been released from hospital. It’s a really good reminder of the unpredictable power of the ocean and to be safe around water.
