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

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

Video releases

This week we have had some video releases.

Two profile ones of both Luis and Keshia and two contest events in Porto for the Open National and the Juniors in Aveiro.

Click on the links below to watch the videos.




Keshia win during the Aveiro Nationals :)

Luis' profile on Surftotal TV

Open Nationals in Porto

Keshia's profile on Surftotal TV

Esperancas in Aveiro

Feels like " deja vu "

Only last week we were driving past Aveiro after the Nationals in Porto and 4 days later, here we are again.

Aveiro is a great place, has amazing waves, beaches and food :)
It is actually in the running for the 7 wonders of the ocean here in Portugal, where you can vote for the 7 best beaches in Portugal. It has super clean long beaches with sand that feels like flour ( actually not something I really like cause it gets everywhere ) but still feels amazing.

The contest this time was just for Keshia and Klaus as it is for Under 18's only.

Friday was the first day with both Keshia and Klaus entering the water. Waves were pretty small but still fun size.

Keshia won her first heat of the girls comfortably and moved to the next round.

Klaus was also in and got through his first heat without any  problems and same in the next one. The semis for Klaus were slightly different, snapping his leash with 5 minutes to go, he needed a 3.90 to advance, scored a 3.75 and had no time to come in and get a new one to try and increase his score.
Still a good show from Klaus :)

Keshia was also in on Saturday as she enters in the Boys Under 18's.

First heat ( 6 men in the water...well in this case 5 men and 1 girl ) was pretty easy and Keshia got 2nd and moved to the next round.
She then had the last heat of the day with again 5 guys with her.

The portuguese National Under 16's champion and runner up in the Under 18's was in the same heat as Keshia.
The waves were big and hard to get in position but that did not bother Keshia and she paddled harder than most boys, getting 2nd place and leaving his needing 5.56 go move up :)

She got a big cheer from everyone on the beach, representing girl power hahaha ;)

Sunday was the final day and only Keshia was surfing.

The semis were pretty easy with Keshia having a combined score of 11.50. Waver were big adn powerful so it suited her style of surfing perfectly.

Finals were held, for once, in the best tides and conditions for the girls.
With 25 minutes heat, Keshia made sure she dominated from the started scoring a 5.50 in her first wave and building scores form then on.
After 10 minutes, she had the rest of the girls needing a combination and the heat was pretty much over with a combined total score of 14.00 ( a 6.5 and a 7.5 )

A great weekend for both Kehsia and Klaus. Rakings are not updated yet but we know for sure Kehsia is leading the Under 18's girls and giving the Under 18's boys a good run for their money.

Will update rankings as soon as they are out.

Thanks to everyone once again :)

A break from National events now for the summer, next one will be Royan in France to kick off the Pro Junior Season :)