Keshia is British National Champion

Another weekend, another title...well, in this case two titles as keshia won Under 16's and Open division.


Keshia had the opportunity to go to Fristal and enter the British National Championships, organized by  Surfinggb and UK Pro Surf Tour.

Forecast looked good although cold, so it was a task for Keshia that she was not used to. Full thick suit, booties, hood, gloves, local kids were all prepared for that kind of weather, we were not.......

As flights from Portugal are now only to London ( even airlines know its too cold to go surfing in Newquay in the winter :) we had to fly into London and drive down to Newquay.

Its a good 5 to 6 hours drive so Keshia only managed a quick surf on Friday afternoon, as it gets dark at 15:30...... seriously ?? another adjustment there !

Saturday morning and, of course, Keshia was in the first heat, 08:30 and it was off ! It was an eye opener to see all this kids stoked for the good waves and so happy to go surfing, in the mean time, Keshia was inside the car, trying to get changed, with a hot water bottle :)

She braved through the waves and weather and survived to tell the story another day :)

Sunday was the same with Keshia in the first heat.

The swell had picked up and Keshia was starting to adapt to conditions by putting in some great scores and winning all the heats.

Finals of Under 16's and Open were almost at the end of the day and conditions held until the end.

Keshia had excellent waves scoring 7's and 8's and leaving the girls, in the Open final, needing almost combination scores.

It was an amazing achievement for Keshia and shows you can go to a spot where you have never surfed before and still come out with a win. Cold weather is no excuse.....hahahah

This means that Keshia has ended the competition year with another National title, this time in the UK and becoming Under 16's and Open British National Champion.

Thanks everyone that made this possible, all staff, organizers, sponsors and of course parents, Surfing GB and UK Pro Surf Tour. We will see you again next year.



All photo credt to Surfing GB and Rob Tibbles :)

Keshia is Under 18's National Champion 2012

This weekend was the last round of the Nationals. 

4 events count and Keshia had already won 3 which meant that she just needed to turn up for her heat to win the title. The waves were much smaller than expected and, Sao Pedro being such a slow fat right, was leaving it open to anyone to take the win. Obviously Keshia wanted to go one better and win all 4 of the events and make a clean sweep to take home all 4200 points but the waves did not come to her in the final and she had to be happy with a 2nd place finish. With that, Keshia wins the Under 18's title once again with just over 500 points ahead of 2nd place. Also, as she was champion last year, she was allowed to enter the Boys Under 18's and there she finished in 10th place overall.

Another fantastic result and a great way to finish the Portuguese Nationals Season.

Portuguese National Champions

Bana Skate Jam

Ericeira Skate park hosted the Bana Skate challenge last weekend.

A great contest for everyone and you could tell by the crowd that was there. The categories went from Under 14's, Open, Cash for tricks, rookie of the year, best skater and more.

Klaus was not happy with claiming 1st place in the U14's so he took home so cash and a sick personalized board for the Rookie of the event ! 

Stoked for his only 2nd skate comp :)

And to top it all... a double page shot in the latest SURGE Mag !! 

Keshia has been in the spotlight for September

Here are the various pictures / coverage / articles that Keshia has had in September.

Surf Portugal coverage after winning the Open National Event in Aveiro

Sunday Newspaper with an article about surfing

Acores Island Pro WQS event, Acores National Newspaper

Miss Sumol Open Cup

Special Edition Girls Magazine

Keshia is Open Vice Champion 2012

As the season is coming to an end, so are the titles that are to be decided.

This last one was the Open National title.

Keshia had already won 2 events out of 4 but still needed to get top 3 in the final contest and for one girl, who was the only one that had a chance of beating her, to get 1st or 2nd.

The contest was held at Supertubes in Peniche, using the site for the WCT.

The first day the girls did not go in but forecast was looking great for all 3 days of the contest.

Although slightly challenging for the girls due to the conditions, they all put on a good show.

It was obvious that a lot was at stake as both girls were very nervous and it showed in their surfing in the semi finals but both managed to pull it through and advance to the final.

A huge front came and fog closed the whole beach making it impossible for the judges to see the girls and them to see the sets so, the event was put on hold.

Nerves built up for those 4 hours of waiting and the waves deteriorated with smaller sets approaching.

Keshia was hoping that the conditions had stayed the same but at the end, her opponent managed to get the wave to get ahead of her and the ended up winning the event and the title.

This way Keshia finished second over all in the Open National Event. A huge achievement for her first year on the Open Championships.

Now all thats left for the year is the Under 18's Nationals, where the top 16 for each age category qualify and Keshia has done that for both Under 18's girls and boys and it will take place during the first weekend in November.

Video of the latest Junior event

The video for the Latest Portuguese Junior event has just come out.

It took place in Sao Pedro de Moel and Keshia claimed first place.

Link below :)

Video

can you score a hat trick in surfing ? Keshia did :)

What seemed to be an impossible task and a crazy 5 days, turned into the most amazing achievement.

There were 3 events taking place in 5 days and all over Portugal.

The first one was the second leg of the Rip Curl Grom Search which took place in Costa da Caparica.
It was an important one for Kesh as a final would mean she would qualify for the European Final which will take place in Peniche, the day before the CT.

Keshia won her heats consistently and with greta high scores giving the other competitors no change to catch up with her.

The final was great, with excellent waves and good strategies from keshia, and she made sure she took home first place.

Keshia will be in the European Final and a win there, means she will go to Australia for the World Final. Fingers crossed for that one.

So after a long day, it was time to pack the car and boards and drive to Aveiro, in the North of Portugal. This time for the Miss Sumol Cup. A special edition ALL GIRLS comp, in the Open category.

It was a long drive, not much sleep and up early for an 8am check-in.

The contest was meant to be over a 2 day period but, the waves were so good that, all the girls that were in the final agreed that it should be run.

Keshia was one of the finalists and she was ready for another good heat. 30 minutes heat seems to go on forever and sometimes you just want it to end of 20 mins but this time, it played totally in Keshia's hands as with 1 minute to go and Keshia in 3rd place needing a 6.5 for first, a perfect wave came, Keshia was in the right place at the right time, very cool and calmly rode all the wave to the inside, giving no doubt that she got the score. We had to wait after the buzzer for the score, and the judges loved it, giving her a 7.00. Once again, Keshia was the winner and took home Miss Sumol Cup crown :)

The organization was excellent and they had a boat just for the competitors so, it was a good night rest on the boat with some nice food and a well deserved rest in the centre of Aveiro.

Nazare was the next stop for the Under 18's nationals. It was a beach that we have never been to before  so, it was nice to get there the day before the event started to practice, the only problem was that, there were no waves...... Back to the house and time to unwind and rest in the swimming pool :)

Contest head back on for the morning. The waves were pretty small but still good enough for Keshia to show her power surf.

In the semi final, the girl that was 2nd in the ranking and the only one that could be a threat to her title, was knocked out. That released a lot of pressure from Keshia and it showed in her final.

She sailed through it, leaving the girls all in comp.

A hat trick for Kesh in all different categories. A win in the Under 16's, Under 18's and Open :)

We only have a video for the Open at the moment, link below, but will update when the others come. Also there are a couple of interviews coming out etc so, keep checking back for details, photos and videos.

Miss Sumol Cup 2012

SURFTOTAL Interview

Rip Curl Grom Search video