Surfin the UU way!!

UU student Easkey Britton has once again taken the crown as the Denny Irish National Surf Champion, making it three wins in a row for the Donegal woman.

Not only did Easkey take the title, she also made surf history by achieving the first perfect 10 to be scored at a women’s event in Ireland, and it was the only 10 scored at the National Championships.
The student of Environmental Science and Psychology fended off competition from over 150 surfers from across the country at the event which took place in the aptly named Easkey in County Sligo, home of the Irish Surf Association. 

Twenty-one-year-old Easkey has been busy over the past few weeks. Having taken the Irish surf crown, she has just returned from County Clare where she surfed Ireland’s most famous big wave, Aill na Searrach at the idyllic setting of the Cliffs of Moher – she is the first woman to ever surf the mighty wave.

It was also the first time the Rossnowlagh woman has ever had a tow-in – big wave surfing with a jet ski to tow you in so you have more speed on the wave. 

Commenting on her success at the Irish Nationals, Easkey said: “We were blessed with perfect surf on Saturday, big waves, offshore winds and the sun was shining, unheard of at an Irish surf contest! The standard of surfing was the highest ever seen at a national event. All the girls were ripping so I knew it would be a tough battle to retain my title.”

UU made it a one-two in the competition with Design and Communications student Shauna Ward finishing second. The students’ success in the competition was rewarded with places on the Irish Surf Team which will be competing at the European Championships in Anglet, France in June. 

In the Irish National men’s event 22-year-old Travel and Tourism student John McCurry finished second in the longboard section, just missing out on retaining the title he won last year.

Congratulations to all our surfers from the Sports Union!!