PuraVida – MiPost Welsh National Surfing Championships 2021: Day 1 Update
Day 1 of the PuraVida – MiPost Welsh National Surfing Championships saw outstanding commitment on display as competitors impressed in challenging conditions at Freshwater West.
Saturday brought plenty of swell, with overhead waves building through the afternoon and getting heavier towards high tide. Clean faces were tricky to track down under a persistent cross-onshore breeze, but it only seemed to encourage entrants to showcase their skills through gutsy top-to-bottom surfing.
In the U18 Girls category, Josie Hawke and Poppy Owen made it through their heats to set up a final alongside Indi Lynch and Katie David. Meanwhile, Eli Perrin Davies (CCSC), Ollie Evans, Jed Wood (LBR), and Euan Buick were victorious in their semi-final heats, and will battle it out on day two to become U18s Boys champion.
Big congratulations go out to Georgina Letwas, winner of the Women’s Longboarding event – the only category to be completed today. Fiona Campbell landed second spot despite suffering a broken leash mid-way through the final. Elen Jones and Mhairi-Clair Stewart took third and fourth respectively; all four did exceptionally well to perform in the strong sea.
There were knee-drops a-plenty and solid nose-riding going down in the Men’s Longboarding as the tide pushed off low in the early afternoon. Sunday’s final should deliver lots more top-class logging when Evan Rogers (CCSC), Josh Hocking, Raife Gaskell, and Arran Bright (CCSC) go up against one another for the crown.
The Masters saw Welsh veterans Mark Vaughan (CCSC), Greg Owen (WCSC), Chris Fowler (WSF) and Nathan Phillips (SCSC) book themselves into the last stage of the contest. Nathan Phillips also appears in the Men’s final where he’ll meet the formidable opposition of Logan Nicol (CCSC), Joseph Morris (WCSC), and Pat Langdon-Dark (LBR).
Day two of the championship begins with U14 Boys at 08:00am, followed by U16 Girls; Men’s Longboard final; Masters’ Final; U18 Boy’s Longboard final; U18 Girls’ longboard final; U18 Girls; Under 18 Boys, leading up to the Men’s Open final in the late afternoon.
Early competitors should be on the beach at Fresh West no later than 07:30am check-in for an 08:00am start.
Please be advised that Sunday’s proposed running order may change.
Wave conditions should be similar to today’s, if a bit smaller, with a steady on-shore breeze throughout.