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.

2 days and 2 podiums for Keshia

The Circus is coming to Peniche for the last leg of the European tour so what better way to get everyone up to speed with everything than throw in the guinea pigs and check judges, sound, score boards etc etc.

Keshia had two events in two day. The first one was the final Pro Junior event, for girls under 21 years of age. This one was due to take place in July, when Keshia was away competing in San Sebastian so, she had not entered it. The organization said that she had to be there early to be the first alternate and try and get a spot. Well, the gods were with her and she was in. The waves were pretty small and not easy for girls to surf as it was fast and closing out but Keshia fought all the way to the final, scoring the highest of all the heats in her semi, with a total combination of 9.50. The final was a fight for first and second all the way to the end, Keshia did not manage to find the wave she needed and came out claiming second spot, which means, Keshia is Pro Junior Vice Champion for 2011 :)

The following day saw the best 16's and under in Europe, compete for the title of Rip Curld European Champ. Keshia, once again was away for one of the comps in Portugal and ended up getting her entry ticket for the event, in the UK. There were girls from Spain, Portugal, UK and France. The semi final was almost a disaster for Keshia, waves were hard to get and scores were low, meaning that anyone could have taken those two spots to advance to the final but keshia proved to everyone that she wanted it more than the rest, going for pretty much every wave that came her way. It paid off at the end and the final was next.

One girl from each country made the final but only Keshia and Leticia ( from Spain ) were in the hunt for the title, exchanging places all the way till the countdown. Once again, Keshia came out with 2nd spot.

Two vice champion titles in two days, more trophies and some great experiences and lessons learnt.

Thanks to everyone that was there, and all of you who support her.

A very nice write up on the ripcurl site, shows that she is one to watch :)

Grom Search European Final 2011