Twenty-five year old goofy-footer Johnny Fryer put on a dazzling display of surfing at Newquay’s Fistral Beach this weekend to claim his maiden British title.
He showed his true competitive spirit and knowledge to be crowned British champion, and took home a Gibson Les Paul Studio guitar as the champion’s trophy. Jayce Robinson & Oli Adams both surfed well in the final but it was Johnny’s day.
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Newquay based Isle of Wight surfer Johnny Fryer claimed his third open national title at the English Open Championships held at Watergate Bay, Newquay on the weekend of the 9th-10th June.
Johnny, 28, who learnt to surf at Compton Bay first won the prestigious title back in 2009 before going on to win the British Championships in 2010.
The Championships is the first event on the contest calender and is usually held on the first weekend in May but due to several weeks of poor surf on the North Cornish coast, organisers were forced to postpone the event 3 times. At the 4th time of asking the Championships finally got under way. The storms that had lashed the South west during the week had left a residual dying swell. With this the contest Directors decided to complete the whole of the Men’s and Ladies Open Event in just one day. This meant that each of the competitors who made the finals would have surfed 4 competitive heats in one day. This was not only a test of skill and prowess but fitness and stamina would be a deciding factor too.
With decent 2 -3ft surf rolling through Watergate Bay all day the finals got started in the early evening. The men’s division was well represented with all the top surfers from around the country competing. Johnny was one of the stand-outs in the early rounds of the event, making his way to the final with a combination of consistent, powerful surfing mixed with some new school moves. The final was an array of progressive surfing from all four surfers, each posting impressive scores, but it was Johnny who attacked early in the heat, posting two high scoring waves in the first half of the final, giving him a clear lead that the other finalists never matched. Sam Lamiroy (Newcastle) finished second, Stuart Campbell (North Devon) third and Gordon Fontain (Bournemouth) fourth.
Johnny said after winning ‘The waves were really fun and similar to what I grew up surfing back on the Isle of Wight so I felt really relaxed out there. I surfed every heat as if I was just going for a fun surf and not over thinking things too much. It usually works out best that way. There hasn’t been much surf lately and its been so long since the last contest, I think everyone including myself felt a bit rusty coming into the event. I’m stoked to win and hopefully this will set me up for more success later on in the season.’
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