The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
A Clare surfer will take his place among the sport’s elite when he head’s to Los Angeles in May in the hope of winning an international award.
Peter Conroy, a Clarecastle man living in Miltown Malbay, has received confirmation he is among the top five vying for the World Billabong XXL Ride of the Year (Tube) award.
Not only is Peter the only European still in contention for the award, he is also the only part-time surfer in the race for the €5,000 first prize. Roo McCrudden, who recorded Peter when he surfed the wave in Mullaghmore in Sligo back in January, is also in line for a €2,000 prize for the winning photographer.
Legendary Hawaiian surfer, Shane Dorian, who has been nominated in all four of the categories revealed earlier this week, provides the main opposition for the Clare man.
Peter, who works in the Dublin Fire Service, is a member of both the Irish Tow and Surf Rescue Club and the West Coast Surf Club, told The Clare Champion he is delighted to have made it this far.
“The others are all full time surfers with big sponsors. I hold down a job and surf during recreation time,” he said, adding that he would be delighted to hear from any potential sponsors.
The Billabong XXL Awards competition window closed on March 20 with every wave ridden at every big break around the world in the previous 12 months in contention. The five biggest or best in each of the key categories – best paddle-in, best tube, biggest wave and ride of the year – have now been identified, based on photographic evidence.
Mullaghmore Head, where Conroy caught his award-nominated tube, also features in the biggest wave category with Brazil’s Danilo Corto hoping for glory.
The winners will be crowned at the Grove Theatre in Anaheim, California on May 3, with over $120,000 up for grabs across various event categories.
This year’s XXL entries included hundreds of images and video clips of scores of surfers in action in countries spanning all the world’s oceans.
The show will be webcast that night on BillabongXXL.com, and will be broadcast as a one-hour programme on ESPN2 on Sunday, June 9 at noon.
