Be yourself. Because an original is worth more than a copy.
Backdoor Bay Bash
I’m really looking forward to heading over to Hawke’s Bay in mid-November to compete in the Backdoor Bay Bash for the first time in two years, which is the final Surfing NZ event for 2018. The competition is held at either Te Awanga or Waimarama. I’ll be surfing in the Open Women’s, U18 and U16 girl’s divisions. I think the event is well run and always has
good vibes and good people around it, and it would be great to end the year with a good result.
Training
Since my last blog I have been working on my technique instead of doing heaps of snaps trying to do something more dynamic like Reos (re-entries) and getting my front foot above the lip line. With doing Reos you get scored higher because it is a bigger turn than doing a snap but also, I have been working on doing the Reos in the right spot, on the closeout section and not trying to do it in the at section of the wave. (Thanks Dad for filming and Jarred for breaking it down!)
Scholastics
Last month I went to Gisborne for the 2018 NZ national scholastic surfing champs where there were 11 teams and you had to compete for your team. I was part of team Taranaki. We arrived on the Sunday and the comp started on Monday, so we went for a surf and there was no-one out (but we made an instant crowd!)
The scholastics went for 4 days and it was pumping for most of the week. On the 1st day only the boys surfed so we had a whole day to prepare. On the second day I surfed my first 2 heats and got 1st in both and that meant I made it to the finals. On the third day all the boys surfed again by the end of the day most of the boys got knocked out and to top that o , both the van’s batteries went at but thankfully there was a very helpful guy that wouldn’t stop until our van started. He even towed it down a hill to get it started! Once the finals rolled around it started to go onshore but it was still fun. I was competing in the U14 girl’s division where I placed 1st with a heat total of 9.10 and our team came 10th overall. Just a week after getting home from scholastics I competed in the 2018 Bayleys Real Estate Aotearoa Maori titles at Stent Road, South Taranaki. When we arrived early on the Saturday morning the waves were pumping, o shore and clean. I didn’t realise how much of a full-on day I had ahead of me. I surfed before the comp at 7am and then 4 heats through the day, with the last nal at 8pm as the sun was
setting. I was pretty happy with my performance placing 3rd in both the Open Women’s and U18 girls.
