07/03/2016
Post Card From Suzuki Ambassador Pro Surfer
Upon arriving in Sydney I received the most amazing welcome present - a flashy beige and black 2016 Suzuki Vitara. I promptly loaded up my boards and me and my team, mom and manager, Margot Tuach and coach, Jim Hogan, headed to Merewether Beach for my first World Surf League (WSL) contest of the 2016 season.
We arrived a few days before the start of the contest to get familiar with the break. It was pretty intense - getting up early every day to train, going over video footage to make improvements to my technique, working out at the gym and crashing early at night in our home away from home - a quaint, little cabin close to Lake Macquarie, about 20 minutes away from the surf break.
I had a dream start to my season, making it to the quarter final round and ending 5th overall out of 84 of the world's best professional female surfers at the WSL 6000 Taggart Women's Pro at Merewether Beach. The level of competition was very high and it felt really good to get a solid result in my first contest of the year.
Right after my quarterfinal heat against the Number 1 seed and eventual champion of the event, Sally Fitzgibbons, I headed back to the cabin with my team and again loaded up the Vitara for the drive back to Sydney and contest number 2, the Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach.
We arrived at our studio apartment, located within walking distance of the contest site and right in the heart of the beautiful seaside town of Manly, with Manly Wharf on one side overlooking the Harbour and the Board Walk along Manly Beach on the other side with loads of shops, bars and restaurants in between.
Despite the temptation to play tourist for a while, I had to get right back into my training routine with coach, Jim Hogan as the contest was starting the next day. The waves, although tricky, were better than they have been in past years. Coach Hogan has been happy with my surfing and how my boards have been working.
I had a good start to the event, winning my fourth round heat against three other stand out Aussie surfers with two solid scores of a 7.5 and a 6.5. In my Fifth round heat of the WSL 6000 Aussie Bodies Women's Pro, I narrowly lost out on advancing, catchng the wave I was waiting for to get the score I needed right at the end of the heat. I thought that I stood up on time so I surfed it as hard as I could. The wave opened up for me and I belted a few good turns. Unfortunately, the contest director deemed that I stood up a split second too late. That was pretty heart-breaking but is something that happens so often in surfing that you have to brush off the loss and focus on the next event and what an event that will be for me! My WSL World Championship Tour debut. Wow!
There is no better feeling in the world than living a dream that you have worked so hard to achieve. I am really excited to represent my country and my sponsors as I compete against the 16 best female professional surfers in the world! I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and want to thank Suzuki Caribbean and Sol for helping to make this all possible. My event will be webcast live from March 10 at www.worldsurfleague.com. Fingers crossed!!
