Ireland’s final competitor, representing Waterford and TBay Surf Club, Alex Fanning surfed in the U18 Girls Rep final on the last day of competition at Eurosurf Junior. Alex was challenging for a place in the Grand Final. A great performance saw Alex finish 3rd place in the Rep final just missing progression into the Grand Final but finishing 5th overall in Europe. .
Tbay’s Ben Maher also had a solid performance in the U18 Boys Longboard finishing 9th overall
In the U16 Boys, all flying the flag for Sligo and Donegal Bay Board Riders, Oscar Choo finished 22nd with Darragh Gilmartin and Tom Murphy tied for 25th.
In U16 Girls, Akiya Moore, Tbay was the top performer finishing 19th with Sadie Shalloo representing West Coast Surf Club 25th and Evelyn Moore, Tbay 31st.
Lorcan Southcombe, Donegal BaynBoard Riders and Ben Maher tied for 25th while Tbay's Jai Widger placed 31st
Jude Lee,Tbay had a strong performance in the U18:Girls taking 21st with Alex Fanning and Katie Lodge, West Coast Surf Club tied for 25th.
Spain was crowned overall European Champios ahead of France 2nd, Portugal 3rd and England 4th. Ireland placed 7th in the team rankings. FULL RESULTS
Irish Surfing is especially grateful to the dedicated team of volunteers who took leave from work or gave up holiday time to travel with our junior surfers, inspiring and supporting them through the event. The team was led by Manager Ross Lee, Tbay Surf Club and Coaches Iarom Madden, Donegal Bay Board Riders, Ayesha Garvey and Maia Monaghan, Rossnowlagh Surf Club.
Gavin Mc Crea, Irish Surf Development Officer and Rossnowlagh Surf Club was part of the team of international judges who spent the week in the judging podium getting through 200 heats and over 70 hours of competition.
Thank you to the event hosts, European Surfing Federation, Portuguese Surfing Federation and Santa Cruz Oceanspirit Festival.
To everybody at home, surf clubs, school, shops and individuals who helped fundraiser and contributed to our team fundraiser; and to everybody who supported the team on the beach in Santa Cruz and online, thank you for your support.
Irish Surfing is funded by Sport Ireland, supporting us deliver grassroots development to grow and manage our sport.
