Brandon man to compete in World Surfing Games
A BRANDON native is in Japan this week to compete in the World Surfing Games finals. The competition is part of the selection procedure for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which will be the first time surfing is recognised as an Olympic sport.
Kerry Larkin grew up surfing around Brandon in west Kerry but has been living and working in Sligo for several years now, where he has honed his surfing skills on the famed waves around Strandhill.
A member of County Sligo Surf Club, Larkin has been lecturing in Bachelor of Sport with Business at IT Sligo for the past 12 years and managing the campus surf club. He is, however, best known for his surfing achievements, competing in two European Championships and winning senior and masters national championships. Just recently he achieved a first and second place in the Sligo Open surfing championships in the Masters Division and Open Divison respectively.
Larkin began surfing at 14 years of age and was instantly hooked on the sport, and quickly becoming an instructor at the Jamie Knox Surf School in Brandon Bay. In 1996 after finishing school in Tralee, he chose to study in Sligo, mainly because of its surfing reputation and the appeal of being able to get a degree and surf regularly. Dedicated to his sport, after lectures he would cycle everyday from Sligo to Strandhill with his surfboard under his arm.
Kerry is hugely passionate about surfing and would highly recommend anybody to take up the sport as a recreational hobby above all else. “Sligo has the best coast in Europe for surfing,” he says.
“If you live in Sligo and don’t surf, it’s like living in the Alps and not skiing! Surfers come here from all over the world. The south-westerly off-shore winds and granite reef make high quality and consistent waves. Combine this with relatively warm waters and long days, and surfers can’t get enough.”
Larkin will be part of a threeman and three-woman team Ireland team in Tahara, Japan from September 15 to 22. Each surfer will be given 20 minutes in the water and are marked on power, speed and flow. They will also be judged on their wave selection and technical ability on the board.