Two young surfers Joel (14yrs) and Rosie (15yrs) and parents Erica and Sam travelled to Lima, Peru In December 2025 to represent Scotland for the Junior ISA World Surfing Championships.
Announcement
Roll back 7 weeks, to mid October and the day the juniors got the call and chance to go to the World Championships – both so excited at the prospect to represent Scotland but also to travel to the other side of the world to Peru to compete and see the world. Unfortunately due to various factors only two of the full team of juniors travelled from our talented Scotland junior team.
Training in Scotland’s Winter
With Rosie and Joel both picked as wild cards and amongst the youngest of the original team, they were heading to Peru to gain experience at an international level.
Both Rosie and Joel are from the Belhaven Surf club and Sam agreed, as head coach to create a 6 weekprogramme to concentrate on fitness and technical surf goals for both surfers. We planned a swim programme (breadth holding, stamina and speed), skated with SPACE in East Linton, surfed at Lost Shore, surfed as mush as possible in the sea and went to Thurso for a trip, with video analysis at Belhaven Surf Centre. Dunbar High School supported the juniors with flexibility to exchange sea training for physical education time. It was intense period of time but both juniors had prepared as much as possible. And the local surf community was awesome supporting the kids at two big events, a pub quiz and sauna and dip at the Belhaven surf centre! And thanks to all those that supported the fundraiser.
We were ready toditch the 5mm hooded suits and accessories for Peru’s summer!
Peru
The travel to Peru is two flights, one 90 minute flight to Amsterdam andthen a 12 hour flight from Amsterdam to KLM – itis a long way! But fascinating, Joel was awe struck by Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest as we flew over – “so many trees!!” You don’t realise how vast an area it is, travelling for over an hour in aplane at 500mph+ with only trees and rivers. Then “ the mountains in the clouds” as we climbed over the peaks of the Andes at 22,000 feet and down towards Lima and our final destination.
Erica had been to Peru years ago in her early twenties but the rest of us had never been to South America. All of us were struck straight away by how welcoming people were. As we walked through the airport Latino bands and dancing met us and hot into the warm heat and taxi journey.
We arrived in the Punta Hermosa region just south of Lima after 24 hours of travelling and a crazy 2 hour taxi journey, driving is literally insane in Lima. The next day, breakfast and coffees were overlooked by friendly vultures on the rooftop. An hour later we met Juano, soon to become all of our best friend, a super super energetic Peruvian coach and world class surfer who had agreed to be our guide and help coach our national team. None of us spoke Spanish and we had no transport so it was a no brainer to get help and local expertise with logistics. Juano was amazing, literally knew everyone, we couldn’t pass a shop or a taxi or surfer without saying hi! Joel and Rosie paddled out with Juano at the competition break while we were introduced to Juano’s dad who had travelled 40 minutes just to come and say hi and hang out with us……its that kind of place…..everyone has time for you and conversation.
It became clear that Peru is an epic location for surfing, its open to consistent long distance swell from the southern seas around Antarctica but also gets swell from the North Pacific that hits Hawaii. The swell is groomed, with 12-18 second period being the norm and our competition location at Punta Rocas was aswell magnifier providing world class right and left waves breaking for hundreds or metres.
The local surf culture is everywhere too. So many smiles, crazy driving and cool places to eat and drink. Surfing is for all ages and its as common to see a super stoked grom as a charger in his 70’s. The breaks we surfed in our training week ranged from epic powerful lefts, to super friendly playful reef break A-frames.
Every day the low lying cloud would start the day, as the day progressed it get hot but never too hot with the sun breaking through later afternoon, the place had a dreamlike quality, especially when the clouds lifted and you could see an epic coastline with coves, cliffs, the desert and the Andes.
Competition Preparation Peru Style
As the competition grew closer, so did the number of teams arriving from all over the world – it became very clear that the standard was incredible. It was actually a real privilege being in the water when the Hawaiian, Spanish and Peruvian teams paddled out. The technique, confidence, speed and flow, you just realise how good the worlds elite are in our sport.
Our two kids embraced and both stepped up in the competitive training environment – I watched Rosie and Joel snag 8 waves between them, with over 120 of the worlds best juniors fighting over the waves. Over 450 juniors in the competition and at least 500 surf coaches, parents and support arrived.
Juano produced a perfectly balanced program and we shared quieter sessions on world class waves and exposure to the competition venue and elite standards. Our juniors were improving daily.
There was wildlife everywhere, running off a harbour rocks with crabs scattering away, paddling through pools of fish (literally touching on every paddle stroke), seeing big sea lions surface in the line up or be dive bombed by Pelicans. The run up the hot beaches was accompanied by lizards. It was so cool and our kids settled into the vibe of Punta Hermosa and the patience needed to surf bigger longer period surf. The competition was about to start and the forecast due to jump to very big over the weekend…..welcome to the Worlds Championships.
Opening Ceremony
All the International competitions have a welcoming day and parade before the competition start. All the teams line up together and walk to the opening ceremony venue, out chanting each other and coming up with novel ideas for entertainment. My personal favorite was the slovakians that brought a Karaoke machine and played their local folk songs on repeat, that normally involved insane yelping, obviously being next to them in alphabetical order, it didn’t take long for the Scotland team coaches, to sing along and make new friends on the Karaoke! Joel and Rosie carried a large Scotland flag and sand from Belhaven – it’s a nice idea where they presented their sand at the opening ceremony with another 50+ doing the same and the collective communication between all the teams was super positive. Some of the team uniforms were amazing with particular stand outs being Japan (everyone wanted to swap with them), the French berries and the Hawaiians shirts! The president of the ISA said nice words and the competition was on.
Competition
Juano brought routine to our juniors, preparation and positivity. The kids really bought into this and we even had no phones and early sleeps preheats!
Day 1 – Friday U16 Boys Heat 1
Joel was first up and the waves were looking super nice – a bit overhead and he was on podium 2. He got a great first wave for him, a great stylish cutback and then a really critical top turn that was landed.
Unfortunately this is world level and this wave scored 3.7 out of 10, his second wave he fell on and scored a 1.9 – finishing with a 5.6 total. Juano was genuinely super stoked for him as the way he surfed was beyond expectations and the one proper wave he got was excellent and showed potential to be competitive – although the two kids that qualified from his heat scored 9 combined totals, you could see at 14yrs in an u16yrs age band he had potential. The Costa Rican coach commented he had “raw potential”.
Not making the top two puts you in the repocharge – a second chance for competitors to progress back into the main event. Especially useful if you have a hard heat. As it turned out Joel’s heat was average for the worlds at that level in the boys U16yr level with 8.9 average combined score out of 20 needed to make round 2. This was up by over 2 points from Brazil world championships showing the general performance rise throughout the world in 2 years.
Day 2 The arrival of the big seas!!
The next two days the ocean just got bigger and bigger. There was a point where I was on the phone where my wife was saying “I trust your judgment Sam” with reference to Joel going out in his under 18yrs heat in huge surf. It’s a big responsibility as a dad/ coach balancing risk and reward especially at this level as the juniors are talented but the sea is powerful and unpredictable. However, it’s the world championships and there is an expectation that all are ready. Joel showed he was keen and I trusted his attitude and pre comp training.. The competition was on, Joel was not backing down.
He paddled out in the huge surf and gave it a proper shot catching two of the biggest waves of his life – even the live streamed commentator commenting and there is a young Scottish junior flying through the air – as Joel air dropped a wave three times his height to a crumpled conclusion. Unfortunately his score reflected his inexperience in such big seas on his back hand. He failed to qualify but he survived and I was proud of the commitment. Into the U18 Repocharge.
Rosie U18 heat was crazy, with the swell peaking for her first heat, she was in podium two. Podium two is slightly smaller but that heat saw large sets roll through. As a coach free surfing on the smaller day 3 it was only then I really realised how big the seas our kids tackled was. It was massive. She gave it a real go but similar to Joel failed to make the heat. Just getting used to how the sea and rips moved was huge for our juniors and they could be positioned in the perfect position waiting for waves then a 8 wave set double the size just cleared the line up. It was tough.
Day 3 Still huge
Both Rosie (U18yrs) rep and U16 heat and Joel (U16) reps where all run in really big surf and unfortunately both our surfers despite really good attempts failed to adapt to the positioning required and tactics needed to successfully compete even with good advice – both getting caught out mainly by positioning and big sets or just simply struggling with the big drops. Both showed inexperience and didn’t score enough to get through but learned a lot.
It was also nice that both the England and Irish team were super nice and in particular Ben Skinner took a bit of time out to give both Joel and Rosie some great competition advice and feedback.
Day 4 Finally the swell settled – one chance each left
It dropped to head and a half swell in the morning. First up was Joel in the U18 rep, his last chance. Joel was up against top French, Canadian and Dutch surfers at under 18’s. He started really well with a great score and backed it up with a good second wave. His combined score of 6.7 was in a qualifying position in 2nd place until 2 minutes to go when the Canadian got just enough to score a 7.5 total and joined the French 10.8 to go through. It was a nail biter. Super proud of the young man.
He put two good heats of four and surfed two years down at U16 and four years at U18yrs but showed that he’s not far away from competing at this level. His combined totals of 6.7 and 5.6 (with best single waves of 3.8 and 3.7) already shows a lot of potential. The scores are also favourable with the best Scottish junior boy scores of the past, with only Craig Mclachlan the current senior Scottish champion scoring consistently higher from our country at this level.
Next up was Rosie, the swell had dropped to near perfect head high conditions, Rosie looked confident and went out with one of England’s best junior girls in the Under 16 Rep. They were to be joined by an Israel surfer. Rosie started the heat with a great 4 turn wave – her best wave in competition I have ever seen.
She backed it up almost immediately with another really good second wave. Rosie continued to surf well and was leading the heat right up to two minutes to go with the young English girl getting a cracking wave to pip Rosie to first with 9.2 combined but Rosie was through to the second round with 7.9 combined – a major achievement!!!
Her score was one of the best of any Scottish female juniors in world championship competition! Everything clicked and Rosie’s smile reflected the moment! We were over the moon, Erica had a tear in her eye, even a local Peruvian security guard wanted a selfie!
Day 5 we had no competitors competing
But still celebrating having Rosie in the event.
Day 6 the swell lined up and perfect
Perfect shoulder high surf on podium 2 and a long peeling left greeted Rosie for her next round. No heat is easy at world champs level but in the second round at the worlds the jump up is crazy – you are against the worlds best surfing countries. Rosie was up against girls from Peru, Panama and India. Even the Indian was a rip curl asian champion – it’s really top standard. Rosie started again really well with a good first wave to lie 2nd and then backed it up with a great second wave to solidify the position. Unfortunately the expertise of the Peruvian and Panama female surfers showed – as they got great waves with 12.5 and 10.5 totals. Rosie did hold on to beat the young Indian girl for 3rd with another solid total of 5.1. She also now has knowledge of the next step up required. Rosie also can celebrate a great end to her competition and reflect on joining a select group of three Scottish girls that have made the second event round at World level and she still has potentially three more years at this level.
Rosie finished joint 49th equal (out of 100 plus) in the world at under 16’s level.
Both juniors did themselves proud, learned and improved so much over the course of the trip. They also made a load of new friends including Juano our amazing coach.
Scotland finished 46th out of 57 teams with only 2 surfers (doing 4 events (both surfed twice) out of a potential 12 surfer event spaces (Ireland 29th and England 15th with full teams). From a Scottish perspective we are still new at this level and coaching wise this is our first year in Scotland with a part time national surf coach, Suds and its making a big difference. We can also now see the steps required to jump again in levels.
Comments from our team.
“Being there for a competition at that level was a real privilege. The standard was incredible, and it was so good watching surfers put down huge performances. I was especially proud of our team – they improved so much over the course of the event, and you could see their confidence growing day by day. We also met loads of people and made new friends, and I’d love to go back soon to explore more properly.” Erica
“ This competition was a wonderful experience, Peru is a really interesting and varied country with very friendly people and the surf is both laid back and world class! I really enjoyed working with Juano and Erica to give our two talented juniors the best opportunity to compete successfully and as a coach I learned a lot about what it takes to succeed at this level. In Scotland we have a lot to learn but gradually we are creating a pathway and the next steps in elite competition”. Sam
Rosie 15yrs
How was the travel? The travel was really long and tiring, but I loved being on such a big plane with the TVs.
What did you think about Peru? Peru surprised me. Where we were, it felt more desert than jungle. It was so warm and the water was really nice.
How were the people? The people were so kind, welcoming, and helpful.
How were the waves? The waves were amazing and so consistent. I loved pushing myself and surfing bigger waves.
What was your favourite thing about Peru? My favourite thing was getting to surf the competition site, Punta Rocas, with only one other person.
Did you enjoy the competition? Yes, I loved it. It was incredible meeting people from all around the world, and it pushed me to reach a higher standard.
How did you get on? I struggled to find my feet a little in the U18 girls, but I am really proud of my result in the U16 girls. I finished joint 49th of over 100 competitors and made the second round.
What was the best thing about the competition? The best thing was getting to surf nearly empty line-ups.
Any advice for future Scottish team members? Just enjoy it. It is an opportunity of a lifetime. Do not put pressure on yourself because it never helps. You perform best when you are relaxed.
Would you go to an international competition again? Absolutely. It was the best experience I have ever had.
Would you like to go back to South America? Yes. I would love to go back and explore more, especially Machu Picchu and some of the more jungle areas.
Joel 14yrs
What did you think about Peru? Peru was an amazing country, the food, the culture was brilliant .
How were the people? Everyone was so welcoming and kind. All the locals were smiling and just looked really happy
How were the waves? The waves were unreal but it was pretty crowded because of the competition although our coach managed to find us some less busy waves
What was your favourite thing about Peru? The wildlife for sure. The water was filled with dolphins and fish there was pelican diving around us and even a couple huge sea lions came up to me which did give me a bit of a fright and on land there were things like gecko, big bugs and way more
Did you enjoy the competition? Yes it was an experience to remember for the rest of my life. It was so cool seeing all the countries together and meeting new people. The standard was insane and I hope I will get to go back when I’m older
How did you get on? I surfed good and I got good heat scores and results for me and if I can go again I would love to make it further in the competition
What was the best thing about the competition? Finals day ! It was so cool watching the world best fight it out for the title
Any advice for future Scottish team members? Yes. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself because in the end you’ll surf better if you’re having fun .
Would you go to an international competition again? 100% yes it was the best experience and I’m so grateful that I had the chance to go
Would you like to go back to South America? Definitely it’s already on my bucket list of place I want to go to and I would love to go back to Peru when I’m older
