THE Tavistock College Surf Academy took nine members of their team to the British Schools Surfing Championship, held at Woolacombe, North Devon recently.
The team — Beni Evans, Jake Holmes, Sam Sills, Josh Evans, Ellyn Meggicks, Jasmine Hughes, Laura Aspen, Rufus Gould and Jonathon Hake had been training for this event over the winter months and were rewarded by four of the students making it through the heats to the quarter finals.
Pete Keegan, design technology teacher and Surf Academy coach at the college, said: 'This was deemed a huge success considering that the academy is only in its infancy.
The weekend was a fantastic opportunity for the students. On the day of the contest itself, the conditions turned a little less favourable with a large swell and an onshore wind which made the heats difficult. Several of the students showed excellent fitness and technique by managing to get out to the line-up through the countless lines of white water pushing in.'
The British Surfing Association who organised the event said they were very impressed with Tavistock's team spirit and their training and fund-raising events through the winter months. They even said that they would like to invest in the academy by giving the two surf coaches, Pete Keegan and Dan Kinsman, additional free training.
The weekend was finished off with an arranged meeting with top surfer Andrew Cotton.
The event was organised by Pete Keegan and Dan Kinsman, who thanked Fat Face for their support and sponsorship of the event.