Reid wins Sligo Open
Co. Sligo Surf Club hosted the Billabong Co. Sligo Open over the August bank holiday weekend. Surfers from all over Ireland and the UK had to contend with dramatically different conditions over two full days of competition.
The event began on Saturday morning, big swell and strong onshore winds increased during the day, making conditions difficult for the competitors and judges in the wind and driving rain during the initial rounds of the competition.
The semi-finals began early on Sunday morning with near perfect conditions, light offshore breezes, three to four foot waves and sunshine.
Shauna Ward won the first final of the day, the Ladies Open, with some strong surfing and stylish manoeuvres. Amy May Garvey finished second, just ahead of one of Strandhills brightest young prospects, Niamh Kelly, and Amy’s younger sister Ayesha making her first Ladies Open Final appearance.
The Strandhill based body-boarders dominated the U-18 event. Drawing on all his international competition experience, Rory O’Dowd took the title in an extremely competitive final, with David Mulcahy and Kevin McGowan finishing second and third respectively. Oran McGovern, would also have been in the mix but was unable to make the final on Sunday due to prior commitments.
Conditions were very difficult for the U-18 Girls Surf final, as the swell dropped during this event. Amy May Garvey (Rossnowlagh) one of Ireland’s top junior swimmers, demonstrated her paddling power by catching a great scoring wave towards the end of the final, and finished first. She was closely followed by the courageous local surfer, Niamh Kelly, riding some waves right up to the rocks on the shore. Ayesha Garvey finished third ahead of young Eva Martin from Strandhill, competing in her first competition.
The U18 Boys title was a hotly contested affair, between three Irish Junior Team members, Aaron Reid, Cillian Ryan, James Garvey, and one of the top UK juniors, Luke Dillon from Cornwall. This again was an extremely close final, with all four competitors pulling off some explosive moves only feet away from the crowd gathered along the prom to watch the event. With the smallest of margins separating all four surfers Aaron Reid won the U-18 title for the second time in consecutive years. Luke Dillon from Cornwall claimed second spot ahead of Cillian Ryan from Fethard-on-sea and James Garvey.
Conditions were ideal for the Longboard final. The finalists showed no sign of fatigue as they had already surfed two rounds earlier in the day. Spectators were treated to a top class demonstration of this traditional style of surfing, with twelve year old Gearoid McDaid from Strandhill introducing a few new tricks of his own. Andrew Kilfeather, took the title with a mix of traditional and modern styles, ahead of the stylish Kerry native Gary Hall, John Coady and Gearoid McDaid, one to watch for the future, finishing fourth,
The Bodyboard Open final contained some of the top names of Irish Bodyboarding. Aiden Kelly, Andrew Kilfeather, Darragh McCarter and Martin Kelly. The deteriorating swell size, and frequency, resulted periods with all four competitors eagerly waiting and paddling to predict where the next good wave would come from. When the sets arrived, a battle for competitors to catch the all important wave, wave selection was critical. Kilfeather emerged victorious, Daragh McCarter finishing second, Aiden Kelly took third ahead of Martin Kelly.
The Men’s Open Final started in a similar manner to the previous Bodyboard Final. Wave selection was again critical, for competitors to perform two or three powerful manoeuvres on a wave. During the sets there was a flurry of exchanges between all surfers, most rides finishing with a solid manoeuvre ending on the shore, Andrew Kilfeather had to replace a fin mid way through the final after landing on the sand.
Kerry Larkin surfed solidly in the small conditions, pulling a spectacular 360 on one wave. James Garvey showed the spectators the benefits of a recent training trip to Australia, surfing a cracking right hander, literally on to the beach. Reid and Kilfeather selected to surf a small fast left hand wave that broke well on the sets, each trying to out do the other when the next wave broke. Yet again this was the tightest of finals, Aaron Reid winning the event on the final wave of the contest, pulling off a couple of quick powerful turns before ending on the shore.
Aaron Reid’s pride at wining the premier event was evident when he was presented with the Philip Douglas Memorial Cup, where his name will go alongside previous winners such as, Dane Morris (South Africa) and Irelands Fergal Smith.
Yet again the Billabong Co. Sligo Open proved to be one of Ireland’s top competitive and social events on the Irish surfing calendar.
Results
Mens Open Surf
1 Aaron Reid Co Sligo Surf Club
2 Andrew Kilfeather Co Sligo Surf Club
3 Kerry Larkin Co Sligo Surf Club
4 James Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
Ladies Open Surf:
1 Shauna Ward Bundoran
2 Amy May Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
3 Niamh Kelly Co Sligo Surf Club
4 Ayesha Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
Longboard Open:
1 Andrew Kilfeather Co Sligo Surf Club
2 Gary Hall Kerry
3 John Coady West Sligo Surf Club
4 Gearoid Mc Daid Co Sligo Surf Club
Mens Open Bodyboard
1 Andrew Kilfeather Co Sligo Surf Club
2 Darragh Mc Carter Bundoran
3 Aidan Kelly Co Sligo Surf Club
4 Martin Kelly Causeway Coast Co Antrim
U-18 Boys Surf
1 Aaron Reid Co Sligo Surf Club
2 Luke Dillon Newquay England
3 Cillian Ryan T-Bay Surf Club (Tramore)
4 James Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
U-18 Girls Surf
1 Amy May Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
2 Niamh Kelly Co Sligo Surf Club
3 Ayesha Garvey Rossnowlagh Surf Club
4 Eva Martin Co Sligo Surf Club
U-18 Bodyboard
1 Rory O Dowd Co Sligo Surf Club
2 Shane Daly Co Sligo Surf Club
3 Kevin McGowan Co Sligo Surf Club
4 Oran McGovern Co Sligo Surf Club
