BARBADIAN?surf phenomenon, Chelsea Tuach has made an excellent start to her outing at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Nicaragua.
Tuach came out blazing in her Under-18 Girls’ qualifying round one heat against Brazil’s top female surfer, Leticia Freitas; New Zealand’s No. 2 Under-18 girl, Jasmine Smith; and Cindy Obando from host country Nicaragua.
Her first wave was a 5.67 which she quickly followed up with an 8-point ride with strong, vertical backside hits.
Her final wave came in at an 8.17 giving her a heat total of 16.17, the joint highest heat total of the round with top Hawaiian surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb.
In the second qualifying round, Tuach made it through in second place in difficult conditions behind Peruvian Vania Torres.
Tuach will face Nikki Viesens of the United States, Nicole Pallet from South Africa and Larissa Santos from Brazil in her Round 3 heat.
“I am really happy to be through to Round 3. The level of the girls is really high this year and I know that I’m going to have to surf at the top of my game to keep advancing,” she said afterward. (PR/EZS)
