British Juniors 2014

by Nog

Saints Boardriders’ most active competitor, Harry De Roth, has had a busy September, culminating last weekend in him retaining his British Boys Under-16’s title at the National Championships at Fistral. The first half of the month was spent in The Azores, where Harry represented England in the Under-16 boys against the cream of European juniors. Although it was a double elimination format, Harry progressed smoothly to the Grand Final without needing the safety net of a second life! He finished fourth in the final, cementing his arrival at the upper echelon of the European scene. With many highly-rated international juniors below him it was a ground-breaking result, though Harry’s disappointment at not winning the event spoke volumes about his competitive drive!

Back home last weekend, the British juniors enjoyed some contestable waves and produced some fine surfing under blue skies at Fistral. Dan Harmon made a couple of heats in the Under-18’s, and Charley Fox had a bold go at the Under-14 Girls, being squeezed narrowly into third place by the end of the heat. So by the middle of Sunday afternoon Harry was the sole remaining Saints Boardrider in competition. He won every heat en route to the Under-16 final, and quickly established control there. A late slashing ride by Angus Scotney then seemed to take the crown from Harry, but with admirable cool he took a long lefthander at the buzzer, bashing out a series of vertical turns for an excellent score of 8 which clinched the win.

He was soon returning to the water for the Under-18’s final, where he again held the lead throughout, but this time the twist in the tail worked against Harry as Newquay’s Dale Foster found the score in the dying seconds to deny Harry a notable double.

Nevertheless, it has been a good month for Harry, and his confidence is high as he goes into his winter training schedule.