Defending champions St. Winifred’s take NKM Interschool Surfing Championship shield
FIFTY-TWO surfers took to the waters over the weekend to contest the Barbados Surfing Association’s (BSA) annual School Surfing Championships on Saturday, at Brandens, Drill Hall Beach.
There were surfers from eight public and private primary and secondary schools, with some competitors as young as seven-years of age. The Divisions contested were Boys and Girls Under 10, Under 12, Under 16 and Under 19. Surfers competed in three to five feet waves making ideal conditions for the young competitors in the water.
In the Boys Under 10 Division, Jack Degruchy of Wills Primary came out the winner while Andrew Rose from St. Winifred’s placed second. Zander Venezia and Jacob Burke, also from St. Winifred’s, claimed third and fourth place.
In the Girls Under 12 Division, the lone competitor was Isabella Venezia who took the gold medal without opposition. In the Boys Under 12 Division, Dane Mackie of St. Winifred’s took top honours while Gavin Fernandes from the St. Michael’s School was a commendable second. Joshua Burke and Che Allan from St. Winifred’s were third and fourth respectively.
In the Girls Under 16 age group, competition was extremely fierce as the girls in the group were all veterans in the water, though not reflected in their age. The talented Chelsea Tuach of Queen’s College emerged victorious, while experienced surfer, Ametza Nicholls of the St. Michael School was second. Chelsea Roett of the St. Winifred’s School, also a tried and tested campaigner, was third and Alyssa Fernandes from St. Ursula’s was fourth.
In the Boys Under 16 Division, again a fierce group of competitors, Matthew Kieffer of Queen’s College earned the top spot while Daniel Edghill of the Seventh Day Adventist School was second. Gavin Fernandes finished third and Dane Mackie fourth.
Thirteen-year old Daniel Edghill won the Boys Under 19 age group while Mathew Kieffer was second and Warren Ashby of Queen’s College was third.
In the Girls Under 19 age group it was a reverse of the top two spots in the Under 16, as Ametza Nicholls finished first ahead of second place, Chelsea Tuach. Chelsea Roett ended in third and Jade Niccolls of St. Winifred’s was fourth.
The top four placed competitors in each Division received points for his or her school and points were tallied at the end of the competition. Four of Barbados’ most talented Junior surfers, namely thirteen-year olds Chelsea Tuach and Daniel Edghill, and fifteen-year olds Ametza Nicholls and Matthew Kieffer, won the most points for their schools, each amassing 1,860 points.
In addition, Chelsea Tuach won the expression session for the Girls with a powerful front-side re-entry which was well-received by the crowd on hand.
The Seventh Day Adventist School finished fourth with 1,860 points, in third position the St. Michael School with 3,450 points. Second position went the way of Queen’s College with 4,450 points, while the defending Champions, the St. Winifred’s School, emerged victorious once again with a total of 8,460 points. The BSA thanks all its sponsors for helping to make the event the success that it was.