Fresh?from winning her maiden Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) event, Barbados’ top female surfer Chelsea Tuach is hunting more glory.
Tuach, 17, surfed her way to an impressive victory in the 3-Star Ron Jon Roxy Pro Junior in Florida last Sunday.
“I’m mainly focusing on Pro Juniors this year and starting to do the QS events to see how I compare,” Tuach, who returned home on Monday, said.
“I just came from Australia and I’m going to Tahiti after this and will be in California,” she added in an interview with the Florida Today website.
Competing in two-to-four-foot waves at Sheppard Beach Park in Cocoa Beach, the former Queen’s College schoolgirl was a standout over the two days of competition, which began on Saturday.
“I’m so happy to have won this contest,” Tuach said. “I love this wave. I surfed Coco Beach a number of times and won here last year when it was just the Roxy Pro and it wasn’t a Pro Junior yet. When I heard it was a 3-Star this year I was just so stoked to come back. Everytime I go out there I have so much fun. I kept my old faithful board for this event and it worked perfectly for me again.”
With this latest triumph, Tuach has vaulted up the ASP North America Pro Junior rankings and she is hoping her Ron Jon Roxy Pro Junior victory will help in her ASP global qualification campaign.
Tia Blanco, who hails from San Clemente in California, had to settle for second place at the Roxy Pro Junior in her first career ASP Pro Junior final. The 15-year old successfully navigated her way through the trying beach break conditions and battled hard to finish behind Tuach.
“This is my first time to Florida,” Blanco told Florida Today. “This is my third Junior Pro contest and my first final. The girls were ripping out there I’m really stoked. I was trying to find the good waves out there and overall it worked out pretty well. I’m happy with second place,” she said. (EZS)
