Three years into her competitive surfing career, 13-year-old Lola Groube has already earned several podium finishes, the latest being a bronze medal last month.
Now she is eyeing the upcoming World Junior Surfing Champs, a “great experience” and an occasion she’s attended twice before.
The Whangamatā Area School student and Pāuanui local recently placed third at the National Surfing Championships. Held in New Plymouth from January 12 to 18, the New Zealand-wide competition saw more than 300 surfers take part, and Lola said quite a few Kiwis living in Australia also came across to compete.
She entered the ‘16 and Unders’ and ‘Open Womens’ divisions, placing third overall in the former.
“I really wanted to win that one so I was a bit bummed, but surf comps can be tricky as a lot of things affect your end result – choice of wave, wave size, wind, wave priority,” she told The Profile.
“If you win the nationals, you get an automatic spot on the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team which goes onto the World Junior Surfing Champs, which I have qualified for the past two years, so it is definitely my goal to qualify again as it is such a great experience.
“Last year it was held in El Salvador and the year before it was held in Brazil, so it was cool to surf in amazing locations with the best kids from around the world.”
Lola, who is part of the surf academy at Whangamatā Area School, as well as the Whangamatā Boardriders, started surfing when she was just three-years-old, moving into the competitive circuit at age 10.
“My dad is a really good surfer so he taught me how and it helps that we live at the beach,” she said. “[Being part of the] Whangamatā Boardriders is great as it feels like you have a team behind you that you are competing for. At every comp you get allocated points based on your placing, and your aim is to beat the competing boardrider clubs from around the country.”
Events in Piha and the South Island are on the horizon for Lola, each one helping her get one step closer towards making the New Zealand junior team.
And in July, she’ll most likely head to Australia to compete in the Occy Grom Comp – one of the most prestigious grom comps in the world and where Lola has clinched third and second place finishes in the past.
She also travels frequently in order to gain experience and ride bigger waves than what’s often found at her home turf.
“Every surf is different and I really love that,” she said. “Where we live there are a lot of small waves, so we have to travel a bit so I can learn more and get comfortable surfing larger waves and reef breaks which can be tricky, but I’m lucky that I have great sponsors like Billabong, Pete Anderson Surfboards, Vans, and Sticky Johnson wax that support me,” she said.
BY KELLEY TANTAU
