Tya Zebrowsky and (again) Lukas Skinner in the longest day at Santa Cruz

The third day of the Eurosurf Junior 2024 at Santa Cruz was also the longest so far, with a tremendous effort of everyone involved, athletes, staff, judges organization. Eleven hours of competition taking advantage of the long summer days in Portugal. But it was also a day of incredible surfing.

Two of the brightest stars of the day were Lukas Skinner (again), and Tya Zebrowsky.

Lukas, competing in the under 16, not satisfied with the 9.00 wave of the previous day, a huge air reverse to the flats, got himself a perfect 10 in a very different approach: a demonstration of pure rail surfing that convinced the judges panel to award him the highest possible score. And then added an 8.25 for a total score of 18.25. Just impressive.

Also in a high note, the French phenom Tya Zebrowsky. Competing in both under 16 and under 18 the petite 13 year old ripped through the competition having her most accomplished heat in the under 16 round 2 of the main event where she bested Spain’s Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri for the win with a total score of 14.15, an 8.00 and a 6.15 in electrifying manner.

In the end, the half French half Tahitian confessed with a smile that she is a bit jealous of her countryman who are representing France at her father’s homeland for the Olympics: “My dream is to go to the Olympics and I will be cheering for Fierro and Kauli Vaast for the win.”

Tomorrow, Monday, the Eurosurf Junior starts again at 7 am GMT and we are anxious to see what more these young surfers have in store.