Irish Student National Surfing Championship

Source: Irish Surfing Association –www.isasurf.ie-

Press release sent on February the 27th 

Last weekend (23/24th February) saw the hosting of the annual Irish Student National Surfing Championships in Lahinch, Co. Clare.
Run by the NUI Galway Surf Club, in association with the Irish Surfing Association (ISA) and Tubes Boardsports, it was the largest surf competition held in Ireland to date.

The event was a resounding success, over 250 competitors took part from 12 different colleges and despite challenging surf conditions a brilliant contest was had. Ricky Whelan, Event Director, was delighted with the success of the weekend “Apart from the difficult conditions all the elements came together to make it a huge event”.

Mostly contended was the brand new beginner competition, an event for those who have never competed before. With over 60 entrants there were three rounds of heats over two days before John Burke of Sligo IT took the honours in a close final.

The main competition was also run over the two days with four different categories; Open, Women, Bodyboard and Longboard. Aidan Byrne of Sligo IT took home a beautiful brand new longboard when he surfed through the rounds to capture first place whilst NUIG’s Andrew Kilfeather took top honours in the Bodyboard.

Jessie Smith, also of Sligo IT, claimed the win in the womens category, surfing well in the difficult conditions to bring yet another title back to Sligo.

The open category had close to 50 contestants and had some of the top surfers in Ireland battling it out. The waves were far from perfect but the final was still a spectacular show with Stephen Kilfeather of NUIG just edging it past Eoin McCarthy Deering of NUIG to claim first place.

The winning college was decided by allocating points to all those individuals who placed. Whilst Sligo IT put up a strong challenge, it was the NUI, Galway Team who took the title for the third time in a row.            

NUIG surf club would like to thank all that helped make this event such a resounding success. We could not have done this without the help of all our sponsors:

Tubes Boardsports, Nixon, Gravis, Fitzgeralds Surfworld, Element, Lahinch Surf Shop, The Green Room, Bens Surf Clinic, The Surf Coach, Power Source surfboards, Red Bull, Analog, Santa Cruz, Vans, Perfect Day Surf School, Globe, The Realm, Nomad Surfboards, Dakine, Cornor Stone Bar, Coughlan\'s Centra, Ocean Scene Surf Shop, Oakely, Mrs Palmers Surf Wax, Indo boards, Delphi Adventure Centre, Ninth Beach, Lahinch Hostel, Christian Surfers, Lahinch Mace, Extreme Hype Clothing and Turf n Surf.

Full list of results:

Beginner:1st John Burke

Open: 1st Stephen Kilfeather (NUIG), 2nd Eoin McCarthy Deering (NUIG), 3rd Kevin Smith (SIT).

Women: 1st Jessie Smith, 2nd Sophie Piggott, 3rd Claire Concannon

Bodyboard: 1st Andrew Kilfeather (NUIG), 2nd Ryan McEnroe (SIT), 3rd Aidan Kelly (NUIG)

Team results: 1st NUIG, 2nd SIT

About International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. 

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).

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