Twelve youngsters from across Cornwall, Devon and Wales have returned from France as the 13th in the world at the 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. The event saw junior athletes under the age of 18 coming from every continent on the planet and the British team competed against over 30 countries including Australia, USA, South Africa, and Hawaii along side emerging nations including Israel, Morocco, Costa Rica.

Sponsored by Calypso, Brittany Ferries, Rhino board bags and Robie Robes, the British Junior Surf Team competed in both individual and team World Junior Champion titles and although they did not make it into the top ten, some stunning performances illustrated the talent within the current British line-up. The twelve selected youngsters have been part of an ongoing youth surf development and training scheme sponsored by Calypso.

The girls team, consisting of the new 16 year old English Women's Champion Holly Donnolly, Croyde's Karma Worthington and Kathleen Spears alongside Tassy Swallow from St Ives, gained the most points for the overall team, doing well. Kathleen in particular suffered a frustrating heat which was cancelled half way through due to a thunderstorm! Lewis Clinton went the furthest making it into the repercharge round 4 before he was pipped at the post by other nations. The boys teams were made up of Lyndon Wake from Croyde, Lewis Clinton and Arron Evans from Newquay and Stuart Campbell from Woolacombe. The Under 16s team will saw a combination of Wilmslow's Luis Eyre, Josh Piper and George Picking from Newquay and Toby Donachie again from St Merryn.

Head coach Barrie Hall said, "We are obviously all disappointed not to have made it further and into the top ten which was our ambition but to have been selected for this event and to surf against the very best surfers in the world is an amazing experience for our team members. The girls and Lewis Clinton in particular did very well and helped us gain a strong number of points. A lot of these members are very young and still have a good few years at this level. The Calypso training programme will help us develop them all for the future and I'm sure we'll be back in the global top ten soon!"

National Director of the British Surfing Association, Karen Walton says, "Although the result may not be as strong as hoped, we should be proud of our team members who did all put in such a huge effort. The experience for them at the Junior World Championships is unbeatable and aside from the honour of being in the national team, the participation is a key step in their personal development as a global competitive surfer. This year's team was fully supported by sponsors Calypso, Rhino board bags, Robie Robes and Brittany Ferries and their funding and backing is majorly appreciated by all involved."