Surfing: Competitive 14-year-old already making waves

Sarah Mason says she's excited by her first world champs. Photo / ASP, Robertson

With just 20 minutes to show your stuff on a playing field that is continually moving, the world of competitive surfing can be intimidating at any age. But for a 14-year-old, it can be downright terrifying.

Not so for young Kiwi surfer Sarah Mason who is far from rattled by the prospect of going head-to-head with the best young surfers in the world at the ISA World Junior Championships beginning in Piha next week.

The world's best under-18 surfers will be competing at Piha over the week-long carnival as they battle it out for world titles in the biggest event in the junior surfing calendar.

It will be the most intense competition Mason has experienced in her fledgling career, but the Australian-based teenager is taking the "full-on" build-up all in her stride.

Her preparation intensifies today with Mason flying out to Auckland to join her teammates in camp.

"I'm real excited, I can't wait. It'll be my first world champs so I'm really looking forward to it," said Mason.

"It's something I've been building towards for a while so I can't wait until the comp starts."

It is clear Mason loves to compete.

The Gisborne-born teenager tasted the big time last year with invitations into the Roxy Pro trials on Australia's Gold Coast where she impressed with her aggressive surfing.

Mason had already won a number of elite junior surfing contests in Australia, but it was her performances in the trials that captured the attention of the world surfing community.

Perhaps one of the reasons for Mason's fearless attitude is that she has one of the best mentors available in older sister Airini, a top New Zealand surfer, who is now plying her trade in the world qualifying series (WQS). Mason plans to follow her sister and compete in the WQS with the hope of qualifying for the world pro tour.

"[Airini] is a really good inspiration because she's been competing for a while and she can share her experiences with me," she said.

Mason's love for surfing was developed at 7 years old when her father Chris, a local surfboard shaper, took her out for her first wave. Soon after she was hooked. But she didn't take up the sport competitively until after she relocated from Gisborne to the Gold Coast with her parents and five siblings in 2005.

As well as the warmer weather making hitting the waves more enjoyable, Mason has been exposed to more intense competition, and flourished.

"I mainly got into it when I moved to Australia because of the warm water and all that. The surfing is a lot more competitive over here and there's just a lot more opportunities," she said.

The Mason family are based in Cabarita Beach in northern New South Wales.

Despite having lived across the Tasman for the past five years and boasting an Australian accent, there is no question where her national loyalties lie.

Mason, who lists Gisborne's Wainui beach as one of her favourite places to surf, said she will always be a Kiwi at heart. "It wasn't a hard decision to represent New Zealand."

MAIN EVENT
* ISA World Junior Surfing Championships
* Piha, West Auckland
* January 21-28