15 year old Ellie Turner from Bude just finished second in the first WSL Pro Junior of 2017 in Caparica, Portugal.
“I’m really happy, I’ve got three more years on the Junior series so hopefully I’ll have plenty more opportunities to win a final,” Turner said. “I tried to get the waves that had a bit of wall, it was pretty tricky but occasionally there was a fun one.”
Turner is leading the British charge in the Pro Juniors, and at 15 has huge potential for a bright future and plenty of titles.
Pics @surfsolutions
Here’s what Ellie had to say about making the final.
How do you feeling coming 2nd in the Women’s WSL Caparica Pro Junior event?
Super happy! I’ve got three more years on the Junior series so hopefully I’ll have plenty more opportunities to win a final!
Did you have any particular expectations or goals going into this particular event?
I was just hoping that I would get a solid result to start off the year. I was hoping to try and get atlas to the quarters. I just wanted to see how far I could get.
What was the surf like for this event?
At the start of the event the waves were super fun and clean, but going in to the semis the waves got really small, it was still pretty fun though.
How did you find the final?
The final had pretty difficult conditions, with really small and onshore waves to contend with. There were still a couple of waves around and I didn’t mange to get some scores. I got two good waves, one with one turn and the other with two.
What surfboard were your riding?
Recently I’ve been using all my new Fourth Surfboards, shaped by Luke Hart but for this contest and the conditions I surfed my 5’8 DHD, it’s a magic board!
Last year you won pretty much every event you entered in the UK, so how does it feel competing in Europe in the Pro Junior events?
In the Pro Juniors every heat is like a final, especially compared to competing in the UK. In the Pro Juniors every one is REALLY good! You have to be really consistent to get through your heats and every heat can feel pretty tricky at times.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, are you going to be doing all of the Pro Junior events?
Yeah I plan on doing all the Pro Juniors this year, which is really exciting.
Getting second place in the first event of year is amazing! Does this change you goals for the year and do you even have any particular plans or goals for the contests?
I’m just going to try my hardest in all of the contests and see how it goes! I would hopefully like to get into the top two, but if I don’t, that’s ok! I’ve still got three more years on the Pro Junior tour!
How did you prepare for this event, with it being the first proper event of the year and what have you been doing all winter?
I spent all winter surfing in Indonesia with my family.Training and surfing loads ready for the competitions.
For all the girls – especially those in the UK! What advice would you give any keen surfers wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Surf as much as you can and make sure you keep consistent.
How did you get into surfing?
From a young age my Mom & Dad always took me on surfing holidays. It’s always been a family thing, surfing with my Dad, brother and sister.
