Shakira’s new world
terry.wilson@news.com.au
Her quest begins on Monday here on the Gold Coast where she goes for a sixth Queensland SUP surfing championship.
“This is why the state title definitely means as much as the world title,” Westdorp said.
“Only the top two in the state title qualify for the Australian title and only the top two there get to the worlds.”
Westdorp revealed she has been relatively quiet apart from a competition in Hawaii.
“The worlds were the pinnacle and I had a bit of a rest after them – it was probably more of being mentally exhausted,” she said.
“I surfed regularly but not any SUP and when I got back to stand-up I was falling off all the time.
“It has taken a couple of sessions to get back into full SUP mode, to get the technique and mind right.
“But I just had a pretty good session out there Tugun this morning.”
Westdorp had been placed at her previous three world title attempts before her superb win at Cloudbreak – a venue she had never surfed before.
“I was stoked to have won that – all the hard work finally paid off,” she said.
“Before that I’d had two seconds in Peru and a third in Nicaragua.”
the state SUP titles open on Saturday and Sunday with longboard competition with the surfing component on Monday.
They are mobile events and organisers will determine venues for competition depending at on conditions. Meanwhile, the Farlow siblings from Broadbeach will be out in force in the open men’s and women’s longboard divisions, with both Clinton and Sarah in fine form so far this year.
The brother-sister combination took out their respective divisions at the recent Agnes Water Surf Festival, both displaying a combination of contemporary and traditional longboarding to impress the judges.
Six-time national men’s champ Josh Constable is not competing this year.