CALL him the giant killer.
Yesterday, 15-year-old Che Allan defeated all comers, including some of the veterans of the sport, to take the coveted title of open national champion when the Barbados Surfing Association held its National Championships at Soup Bowl, Bathsheba, St Joseph.
Allan, surfing in three finals on the day, won every one, defeating not only his contemporaries, but those who had dominated the surf a few years ago.
Not only is he men’s national champion, but he is the national champion in the Boys Under-16 Division and the Boys Under-18 as well.
He out surfed past national champions Stewart Stoute and Bruce Mackie, as well as Zander Venezia, who had also made it to three finals yesterday, to take the title in the premier division.
“To be honest I didn’t think I would win Open Men,” said Allan.
“But I just got the waves and that heat, surprisingly, had a lull and we didn’t get much waves but I managed to get two set waves and I rode them all the way to the beach and I ended up winning,” he said.
However, Mackie had earlier claimed the title of long board champion, while Stoute won the masters’ division.
The success story of the day in women’s action went to the winner of the open women’s division, Chelsea Tuach.
Recovering from chikungunya which floored her from Sunday last week, Tuach, the island’s top rated female surfer, came back to win the division in a hard-fought battle with Chelsea Roett, Olivia Warden and Giselle Allan.
“The first half of the week I wasn’t feeling good at all, but from Thursday I regained my strength a little bit and I felt about 80 per cent today so I still felt strong enough to go surfing,” she said, adding that she was glad she only had to surf two heats because she would have been too tired to surf any more.
In addition, the conditions at Soup Bowl made it all worthwhile.
“It was a really, really good Soup Bowl today and so that was extra motivation for sure,” she said.
And in a bit of history, Kevin Talma took the inaugural Stand Up Paddle Board national title, defeating Danny Edghill, Jason Cole and Craig Atwell.
The final results are:
Under-12 boys – Caleb Rapson (1st), Tie Garrett.
Under-16 boys – Che Allan (1st), Zander Venezia, Jacob Burke, Andrew Rose.
Under-18 boys – Che Allan (1st), Dane Mackie, Danny Edghill, Zander Venezia.
Long board – Bruce Mackie (1st), Jacob Burke, Danny Edghill, Martin Carnegie.
Masters – Stewart Stoute (1st), Richard Gooding, Andrew Rapson, Louis Venezia.
Under-16 Girls – Olivia Warden (1st), Jodie Burke, Gabriella Gittens, Giselle Allan.
Under-18 girls – Olivia Warden (1st), Giselle Allan, Gabriella Gittens, Roma Bellori.
Stand up paddle board – Kevin Talma (1st), Danny Edghill, Jason Cole, Craig Atwell.
Open women – Chelsea Tuach (1st), Chelsea Roett, Olivia Warden, Giselle Allan.
Open men – Che Allan (1st), Stewart Stoute, Bruce Mackie, Zander Venezia.
