Year 9 student Tom Boothroyd has been surfing since he was eight years old.

The talented surfer recently took part in the Ray White New Brighton Duke Festival surf competition in Christchurch. This is one of the biggest surfing competitions in the country, attracting both North and South Island surfers. Though Tom says he “could have done better”, he came 8th out of 20 in the under 16's - not bad for a 13 year old!

Conditions at the competition weren’t ideal, with waves of just 1-2 ft on day one and 2-3 ft on day two. It was a good chance for Tom to put into practice some of the tips he’d been given after attending an evening talk by the competition’s head judge. “

We picked up some really good tips,” Tom’s Mum Sarah Boothroyd said. “One in particular, which I think is probably relevant to many sporting events, is [that] the surfers who win are the surfers who surf to the judging criteria. [The judge] said there are some world-class surfers who are terrible at surf competitions because they don't surf to the judging criteria.”

Tom, who is part of the Institute of Sport class at Nayland College, also had the opportunity to put into practice some of the things he’s been learning about the importance of mental attitude.

The talented surfer has now been invited to trial for the West Coast Scholastic team with a view to being able to compete in the National Scholastic Surfing Championships, to be held at Raglan in the North Island later this year.

In the future, Tom would love to “go pro” but he would also be happy with a career in surfing in some other way, not necessarily competing. When it comes down to it, he just loves being out on the water.

“You don't think about anything else other than surfing,” Tom said. “It’s like you're in a happy place in your mind. I love the adrenalin when I surf big waves.”

You can follow Tom and his surfing on Instagram @tomgromsurf and on facebook @TomBoothroyd.