At 7 am on Friday the 4^th of June, a very chilly morning, 12 brave Aquinas Surfers and Bodyboarders dove into Scarborough Beach for a warm-up surf before the contest. The conditions were perfect, offshore winds with a small swell pushing through some nice chest high waves.

With the contest meeting out of the way and the rules established, the first heat started at 8 am. It was still about 6 degrees on the beach. Roan O’Hehir was our first surfer and he made a solid start with a couple of good radical turns off the top of a couple of nice left-handers, he tagged in Michael Selwood who struggled with the cold conditions and a lack of paddle fitness. Michael did manage to get a few small waves, all straight handers. Zander MacKenzie took centre stage and he lived up to his reputation as a very competent surfer with the solid know how to read waves well and understand how to get some power out of relatively small conditions. Zander easily won his heat and set Aquinas up with a very good start.

The bodyboarders then hit the water, with Shea Robertson and Jude Foss charging the enticing conditions. Finn Roberts (Yr 7) stepped up and surfed in the Senior heat to make sure we scored some points in the 3^rd. He did a great job catching some nice long lefthanders.

The Junior Surfers were lead by Ashton Warner, who showed he is a force to be reconded with in the future. Ashton surfed with style and flair and was the stand out of his heat. He tagged Tom Dreverman into the 2nd heat. Tom caught some of the larger waves on the day and proved he is chasing Ashton for the top spot next year. Noah O’Hehir charged into the line-up and, being the lightest of the team, he was able to carve out some nice turns and ride the waves further than some of his competitors. The Junior surfers were very close to winning their category when the results were studied after the event.

Finally, the Junior Bodyboarders hit the water, Felix Oh found the rips flowing through the contest site difficult to paddle around. He did manage to get some short sharp rides with a small cover-up being his best wave. Linkyn Hood followed this up with a solid performance in deteriorating conditions. Linkyn surfed well as the northerly wind started to pick up and the rips got stronger. Finn Roberts again rose to the challenge and surfed the final heat of the day. By this time, Finn was exhausted and almost blue with cold. He pushed his way out the back and caught a couple of very nice well-shaped waves to finish the heat well. He almost had to be dragged out of the water, he was so tired. It really was a mammoth effort from young Finn and I would like to thank him for giving it a red hot go. It is great to see when a young man pushes himself and comes out shining and with newfound confidence. I am sure Finn will be back next year, ready to charge.

Thanks must go to Mr John Speechley and Mr Rod Morrison for giving up their time to come down and offer support and advice on the conditions on the day. It was also great to see Mr Kristian Leeson down at the beach supporting the surfing community of the college.