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Thurso quartet aim to make a splash at Nordic Games


By Will Clark

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Shoana Blackadder in action at the Scottish Surfing Championships at Thurso East.
Shoana Blackadder in action at the Scottish Surfing Championships at Thurso East.

THURSO surfers have a strong presence in the Scottish national team with four chosen to represent the country at an international tournament in Norway.

Shoana Blackadder, Mark Boyd, Iona McLachlan and Pheobe Strachan have been called up to take part at the Nordic Surf Games in Bore on February 10.

A total of 48 surfers are involved in the open championship with 24 in the ladies’ section and 24 in the junior section.

Boyd is an accomplished international surfer having competed for Scotland at

Mark Boyd represented Scotland at the World Games and Eurosurf in 2015.
Mark Boyd represented Scotland at the World Games and Eurosurf in 2015.

two International Surfing Association (ISA) World Games as well as at Eurosurf in Morocco last year.

He said Scotland were invited to take part in the Nordic event by representatives of the Norwegian Surfing Federation during Eurosurf and will take on surfers from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden as well as Poland, Russia and Holland.

“After receiving a formal invitation to take part in the tournament, we were delighted to accept,” said Boyd.

“The standard of surfing in the Nordic countries is similar to that in Scotland so it is a competition which we stand a good chance of doing well.

“All of the teams competing are from similar climates and in each of these countries, the sport is rapidly growing.

“There is a strong team heading from Scotland and it will be good to test ourselves against countries of similar ability to our own.”

Blackadder, the Scottish women’s champion, has also represented Scotland at the World Games last May in Nicaragua.

Originally from Edinburgh, Pheobe Strachan has relocated to Thurso to help develop her surfing career and finished second in the Scottish women’s championship in 2015.

McLachlan will be making her international debut in the junior section after becoming Scottish junior champion at Thurso East last year.

Norway in February might not sound the warmest prospect, but Boyd said conditions in Bore are expected to be almost identical to Thurso.

“The water temperature in Norway is not that cold at this time of year,” he said.

“During the summer, the Norwegians surf in warmer waters than we do in Scotland.

“I have worked in Norway many times but I have never had the chance to actually surf there so it will be good to head there for a different reason.”The team will fly from Aberdeen to Stavanger next month before taking a short 30 minute drive to Bore to take part in the four day tournament.


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