England bring home Euro Junior surf Champ From France
3rd October 2002After ten days of small surf in Mimizan, south west France, Bude’s Reubyn Ash was crowned under 14 European Champion, with the English team finishing a respectable third place.
France made the most of their home turf advantage to retain the team title for the third consecutive time. Portugal narrowly took second place. There were 90 young surfers in the event from 9 different nations. Great individual performances came from St Agnes’s Josh Ward who suffered due to the small waves in the final, placing fourth. Bude’s Tazmin Sheppard also made the grand final of the ladies bodyboard and the Isle of Wights Jonny Friar made the final of the under 18’s surf before the event had to be cancelled due to a lack of waves.
The cancellation of the event cost the English team a second place finish as strong results were expected from the seven surfers and bodyboarders that were still in the event.
Team manager Rob Barber commented “The team made the most out of the conditions and genuinely worried the top opposition. We were tactically sound with some great individual performances. The competition’s given us a great building block for the future. We’re very grateful to our sponsors Rip Curl clothing and Dirty Dog sunglasses who supported the team”.
Other News
The ThreeSixty/Manta Air Show Invitational bodyboard contest is all systems go for this weekend. The event which has been postponed due to a lack of surf on two occasions through out the summer is all set to go ahead at Newquays Tolcarne beach at 2pm this Saturday.
The event is open to anybody on Saturday, with the winners qualifying for the big cash prize invitational event on Sunday. The event is employing a revolutionary format that rewards big moves — making for a very spectator friendly event. Call Rick Wilson of the British Bodyboarding Club on 0797 4688459 or check out www.brit-bc.co.uk for more info.