Friday, November 12, 2010

3 TOP 3's

Last weekend was the final event of the Portuguese Nationals.
The call was at Sao Pedro but, due to the small swell, they had to change location to Guincho.
All 3 Eyre's were competing for a top stop in the final as that would guarantee them a top 3 spot in the National ranking.
As it was the last event, only the top 16 qualified so they all started in the 1/4 finals.
The conditions were great for most of the day and all 3 advanced to the semis without any hiccups but the wind started to pick up and the forecast for Sunday was for a full storm and big increase in the swell. Contest  director decided to put in the 1/2's of the girls, in case they could not finish it on Sunday, the Under 12's were also scheduled to go in but, due to the lack of light , they had to stop at the girls.
So a happy ending for Saturday with Keshia already in the finals and Luis and Klaus in the semis.

Sunday morning was a very early start and the ocean surprised us with a smaller swell and not as much wind as expected.
The organization decided to put the smallest of competitors in first and that caught some sleepy parents and kids off guard as some were not there for the start of their heats...!

Once again, both boys made their heats and now all 3 were in the big finals.

Klaus, after a terrible start to the season, to the point were we started to wonder if he was ready for contests or not, made huge progress. After the 1st event, he was ranked 13th and now he had the chance, with a good result, to get 2nd spot in Portugal for his age group....and he did it :) Great job Klaus, a great improvement and fantastic result.

Keshia, almost like Klaus, had a shocker of a start to the season and, just like a good wine, got better as the season went on.
I think they are both pretty new to contest surfing as this was their first serious year competing so, they took a bit to adjust.
Considering all results, good and bad, Keshia had an excellent finish to the year, she claimed second place in the contest and 3rd overall in the Girls Under 18's...which means she has 4 more years left :)

Luis, as always was a slight different story when it came to results.
He only managed to enter 3 out of 5 events due to other contest commitments in Europe, winning 2 and coming 2nd in the other . The other kid that was in the title race, had done 4 events with 2 first places and 2 second places so, if Luis won or came 2nd in this last event, they would be tied in the title.
The conditions were not the best as the wind had started to make the waves very difficult to surf.
Luis had a great start with a 7.10 first wave and a 6.5 in his second, that placed him comfortably in the lead and, as the conditions deteriorated, made it hard to beat. But, as always, the scores were not on Luis' side and they gave a crazy high score for a white water take off and two powerless turns.
Luis was convinced that it was not enough and, funny enough, so was the other surfer but, the judges had other ideas in mind and they gave him more than he needed.

The results then meant that Luis took 2nd place.

We don't normally like to talk about dodgy judging, scores etc but, when it's so obvious that even the winner admits that he did not deserve it, then there is something to be said.

Luis is lucky to have a strong personality and he knows how to handle it and as Klaus said to him: In your heart and mine, we know you won :) I think that's a true champion and.. true brotherly love :)

So the end of the season leaves us with all 3 Eyre's in the Top 3 for Portugal at National level.
Super proud of their achievements and I am sure that with all the up's and down's, it will only make them better and stronger surfers / competitors.

Congratulations to all 3.

Next stop will be on Monday 15th, where, after a grueling 24 hours flights......the 3 Eyre's will invade Hawaii :)

Oh the joys of 3 Pro Surfers :)



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