KEELY SO CLOSE TO CLAIMING
SOME women are destined to surf, a family love of the sport setting them on a journey where all roads lead to the ocean.
Then there’s the 23-year-old who came oh-so-close to claiming her maiden World Surf League title at the Roxy Pro.
“We knew nothing about this world,” Narelle Andrew said as she stood in a room filled with surfing superstars at Snapper Rocks, one of them her daughter Keely who had just lost the final to American Lakey Peterson.
“She was only 14 or 15 when she took it (surfing) up and wouldn’t have surfed 10 competitive heats by the time she turned 16. We knew nothing about it.
“We’d surf a longboard but it was a fun thing. We weren’t in a club so we knew nothing about (competitive) surfing and we’re still learning every day.”
Like the rest of us, Narelle and husband Malcolm are learning their daughter is one hell of a surfer.