YOUNG surfers have been crowned champions at the Scottish Junior National Surfing Championships.

Ten members of Belhaven Surf Club made the trip north to Fraserburgh for the competition last month.

In both the under-12 girls’ and boys’ categories, the East Lothian team got off to a great start, with Dunbar’s Freya Pilarska and North Berwick’s Rudi Johnston Forrest both placing third in their age band.

There was even greater success in the under-14s girls’ category, where Pilarska again finished third, while Rosie Moore surfed exceptionally well to win the national title.

In the under-14s boys’ category, three of the four finalists came from the club, which was only formed in April last year.

North Berwick’s Tam Hood finished second, while Dunbar’s Ansel Parkin placed third and Rudi Johnston Forrest came home with fourth spot.

Finally, in the under-16 boys’ event, North Berwick’s Charlie Pugh finished fourth and Parkin won to become the under-16 boys’ national champion.

The surf club was formed on the back of the creation of the Belhaven Surf Centre in 2019.

At that time, coaches Clover and Sam Christopherson, from Coast to Coast Surf School, handpicked a group of talented young local juniors aged between nine and 16 from their classes.

Joined by some enthusiastic parents, the surf club was formed and, 18 months on, the centre is now a base for high-performance junior surfing in south-east Scotland.

The club has also joint-hosted the Pease Bay junior series competition 2022, the biggest junior surf competition ever in the south-east of Scotland.

Seventy-two competitors have taken to the water as part of a five-stop junior series that runs across the country.

Head coach Sam Christopherson, of Coast to Coast Surf School, was delighted with the success.

He said: “It is really exciting being involved in an explosion in interest in junior surfing in Scotland.

“It is great to see so many kids trying surfing locally, getting active and having fun.

“Now having the amazing Belhaven Surf Centre, we really do have the ability to take young local kids from beginner lessons to national champions.”

To find out more, email sam@c2csurfschool.com