Surf's Up My Life

You ready?

Hey. I'm Iona and I'm totally in love with surfing.

I live in the most northern part of mainland Scotland,

which can be freezing,

with my mum, my dad and my little brother, Craig.

When I'm not hanging out with them or studying for my exams,

I'm training for the biggest challenge of my life -

the World Surf Championships

in the Azores, Portugal.

It's going to be tough because I've only been surfing for two years

and I'm still just a grom.

I'll be up against primo surfers who can rip.

And the waves in the Azores are completely different

to what I'm used to. They're going to be totally gnarly.

OK, to be honest with you,

me and the rest of Team Scotland are the underdogs

in the World Surf Championships.

Like, seriously the underdogs.

But just because I don't think I can win

doesn't mean I'm not going to try my best.

Surf's up.

SHE LAUGHS

Since it's a pretty small town up here,

everybody's excited to hear what we're up to.

Today I'm meeting with a journalist from the local newspaper

about Team Scotland qualifying for the World Championships.

-Hi, Iona, how you doing?

-I'm good, yeah, yourself?

-Nice to meet you.

Thanks very much for meeting me. Congratulations on qualifying.

-Thank you very much.

-First time you've qualified for the

World Championships in the Azores.

In terms of your career, how big a moment is this for you?

It's definitely the biggest thing I've ever done in my whole life

regarding surfing. Even in Scotland,

we've never sent a junior team off to something like this before,

so it's a massive moment for everyone.

Representing your country on the world stage...

-Slightly nerve-racking?

-Yeah, it is pretty nerve-racking.

I've not really thought about it too much yet since it does seem quite a

while away but it'll come round fast and I'm pretty sure I'll start

feeling the nerves then.

And what would be a good result at the World Surfing Championships?

Even just getting through a heat or anything would be massive to me.

I've got five months to train so I need to get in as much surfing

as I can between now and September.

This is the centre of my universe -

our surf garage,

a great place to store our wetsuits and boards and also hang out while

we're waiting for good surf...

..where all the surfers follow the three rules of surfing -

one, never surf alone...

..two, never surf alone...

..and three, never surf alone.

Nice moves, Robbie!

-There's no better feeling than that first...

-First unbroken wave.

Aw! I still remember my first one.

That's when I got hooked.

First clean wave and I was like, "Yeah, I'm not stopping this."

Yeah. I don't really think there's, like, any other feeling like it.

You kind of feel like you're floating at some times.

Even though you're probably, like, always touching the water.

It's kind of like... You've got the power of the earth behind you,

it's the thing that's pushing it forward.

-Yeah, definitely.

-If we didn't have each other, we probably wouldn't be

where we are today cos... I mean, that's... It just started off

with messing about at the beach with a surf board and it turned

into everyone pushing each other, pushing each other's limits.

Surfing has definitely taken over our lives,

even though water can be freezing up here.

But when the waves are good like they are out the east today,

the cold water doesn't matter.

Thurso East is one of my top surfing spots in Scotland.

It's just across from our surf garage

and when the weather's right, the waves are first-class reef breaks.

Well, surfing cold waves, it makes it a lot harsher,

a lot more hard-core. I mean,

being hit by a wave with such force,

especially in the cold waters up here,

can also be described as being like hit with bricks.

If feels like a massive weight just coming down on you.

But when summer comes to Thurso,

the sea turns calm and there's no waves to practise on,

so I need to surf as much as I can right now.

Connor and Robbie are also part of Team Scotland,

so it's great to know I won't be alone in the Azores.

Phoebe is not competing this time but she's got a lot of experience in

surf competitions.

Did you find it much different when you went away?

Well, when I went to Peru,

I still wore a 5mm wetsuit here cos I didn't have a thinner one.

Oh, right. Must have been cooking in it.

I was so hot, but the water was definitely so much warmer.

There's also, like, way more wildlife in it.

Like, we had dolphins with us in the waves.

I feel like I might be a lot more vulnerable with not a wetsuit on

or a thinner wetsuit on cos quite often wetsuits are also used

cos they're very buoyant. They can take you up to the surface quicker.

So I think with a thinner wetsuit on, going to the warmer waters,

you're more likely to sink, which is kind of worrying me a little bit.

Sometimes, the totally unexpected things happen,

so you just have to be fully prepared for everything.

Look, see the forecast.

Good swell direction, like. Check that out.

Wind drops as well so it should be quite nice.

Offshore.

It's harder now to find good waves and we're hoping there might be some

out west. Luckily, I have the greatest mum in the world.

MUSIC: Out Of The Black by Royal Blood

Can you see the waves from here?

-Yeah, it's breaking.

-Oh!

Yeah, it's breaking.

-Oh, look at the river mouth.

-Whoa!

-Look at the river.

-River mouth!

Yeah!

Woo!

It's pumping!

MUSIC DROWNS CONVERSATION

Go, go, go! Go!

Looking for waves is a huge part of my life but if I find good surf,

it's always worth it.

When I'm riding a wave, it's amazing.

It gives me a massive adrenaline rush.

It's hard to describe but it's really cool.

There's a saying that goes, "Only the surfer knows the feeling."

That was crazy!

Yo! So,

I just got back from school and I've now officially finished all of my

exams for this year, so I'm really, really happy about that.

It's such a relief.

But I can just forget about it

and bin it. Not convinced all my exams went great but it won't be

a while away till I find out so I'll just have to see but...

No. Very happy.

But it's not just my exams that are over -

so are the best wave conditions.

Recently I've just been finding out a bit about the Azores.

So you can see on this surf map here where we live,

right at the top of Scotland, here,

and I can tell from the signs here that it's a world-class wave.

It's for experienced surfers and the water temperature is freezing cold.

So we're going to be travelling all the way to

these islands here

and it's also some world-class waves.

The water temperature is quite a bit warmer.

My grandparents are really fun and cool and have travelled the world

and have even been to the Azores.

Hopefully they can tell me what to expect when I finally get up there.

What was the Azores like?

-It's volcanic.

-Mm-hmm.

And it sits right in the middle of the Atlantic.

-Is it cold?

-No, it was quite hot and the rocks are all black.

It looks like this, actually. Look.

This is the rocks here, see?

And this is what the rest of the place looks like.

THEY CHUCKLE

-You've been wanting us to take you places forever.

-Yeah.

You've been complaining about us never taken you anywhere

-and now you've figured a way of getting there yourself.

-Yeah.

-Just surf.

-It's a bit nerve-racking for grandparents, though.

-Yeah.

-And I think sometimes for Mum, as well,

-when she's standing on the beach watching you.

-Yeah.

She doesn't watch any more. Starting to trust me a little bit, I think.

Yeah. It's got better as you've got older but to begin with,

we were really scared when we would see you really far out and the waves

just looked so huge and you looked so tiny.

I know. A bit more experienced now so I kind of know what to do.

Yeah. But you've always really loved being by the sea, anyway.

Even when you were wee, when we used to take you down to the beach here.

-We couldn't get you to come back up the hill.

-Aw.

You used to be crying all the way up the hill.

Terribly proud of you.

Thanks, Granny and Grandad.

It's really flat today, though,

so not going to be getting in the water, I don't think.

But we've just been skating quite a lot.

Skateboarding really helps with my surf technique.

It strengthens my core muscles and helps my balance.

It's also really good fun and something I can do with my little

brother, Craig.

He loves it but I have to focus on my training and I managed to get

in a call with Courtney.

I'm so stoked.

She's incredible. One of the best surfers in the world.

She's been competing internationally since she was 11 years old.

It's weird speaking to, like, a pro surfer.

Oh, really? I think it's awesome getting to speak from so...

Like, I'm here New York, you're in Scotland.

-It's pretty rad.

-Yeah.

-I heard you qualify for the ISAs.

-You're going there?

-Yeah.

-It's, like, pretty insane.

-Are you excited?

-Yeah.

I've never done a competition like this before.

Going to ISA world was such an amazing experience.

You have to just go there and seriously take it all in.

-There's a lot of great talent there.

-Yeah.

I'm sure you're going to have an amazing time.

So, do you know what the judges are looking for in the competition?

The standard that the judges always have, it's the speed, power,

-flow and commitment.

-Right.

-You know, the basic criteria.

-Yeah.

-When you read a wave, you want to read it how it should be surfed

and not over surfing the wave. On a beach break, I find it's important

-to get your spurt in fast, get it done right off the bat.

-100%, yeah.

I mean, up here, it's like,

most of the time it's just point breaks and reef breaks,

so I'm not really used to surfing beaches at all.

Cos I'm not very good at duckdiving, as well,

because I don't surf beaches much.

-OK.

-That's definitely a downside to my surfing.

It's just cos up here it's all slabs and reefs, like, rock, mostly.

But if you're surfing slabs, seriously...

-IONA LAUGHS

-Add that confidence into your

surfing and believe in yourself because if you're able to take on a

slab, you can take on the beach.

-Yeah! Oh, yeah.

-Just keep dreaming and believing.

-I think that's the most important thing.

-Mm-hmm.

There's a lot to learn at those and you're going to have a great time.

Yeah, awesome, thank you.

Yeah, no worries.

-OK, bye.

-See ya.

Oh!

'This is my surf mentor, Sheila. We go out surfing a lot together.'

ENGINE STARTS We're fine.

Oh, God!

Think it's going to be hard finding waves today.

Oh, I know, it's been quite flat this summer.

Yeah. It has. It's not been great.

So how are you feeling about the Azores?

-I'm hoping it'll push me, like, positively than negatively.

-Yeah.

I mean, there's some really, really skilled surfers out there.

Aw, totally and I think it's going to be amazing.

The first thing to do is just basically get waves.

-Yeah.

-I know it sounds really basic.

I think my worst nightmare is that it's, like,

so big and messy and dumpy that I can really make it out back.

I'll just be stuck! I'll be inside just getting battered

by the white water.

Sheila and I went surfing for waves for hours today but still we didn't

find anything. It's been over a week now and there's still no waves.

You guessed it - flat again.

And it's still flat.

Still flat. Flat.

So, yeah, it's been flat for weeks and weeks now and I haven't really

managed to get any training at all

and the competition is right round the corner.

Just have to pray for some waves to come soon.

I just got my exam results in the post.

Really, really happy with the results.

I don't think it could've gone really any better for me.

It's good.

And there's more good news.

We've finally got some good waves.

Whoa! Did you just discover that?

No, I've done it for years.

Hold it like this and then go like that.

Surfing can take over my life but sometimes I need time to hang out

with my friends and appreciate

that Thurso is a very special place for me.

Do you know what I actually like about living in Thurso?

Yeah?

As stupid as it sounds, it kind of like...

It makes you put your imagination to the test.

Like, we have to find so many things to do.

Everyone says they want to move away straightaway. But I think really...

-No.

-No.

-I like going to, like, cities for a few days.

-And then that's enough.

-And then it's so nice to come home.

When I go, like, away on holiday,

I always miss home towards the last few days.

I'm always just like, "Oh, I really want to come back."

Before I started surfing, I was like, "No, I want to get out of here

-"as fast as I can.

-But then you've done so well in your surfing

-for being here.

-Mm-hmm.

So, how do you feel, like, having one of the best places in the world

-to surf up here?

-I know.

-And you have it.

-At first, I didn't really

think that. I was like,

"We don't get that good waves. It's just cold." You know what I mean?

But now I'm realising how good it is I'm just appreciating it so much.

I'd love to just be able to surf for the rest of my life.

Since the competition is now next week, so time's really,

really running out and, also, tomorrow,

it looks like there might be a swell coming so I'm definitely going to

try and get out and train as much as I can.

Thanks for all supporting me with it.

Oh, it's great. You've been doing it all.

I didn't think I'd manage to get this far, really.

So what's the first things that you think you need?

Oh, well, I just need all the equipment so, I guess, obviously,

-the surfboards.

-Yeah.

How many are you taking?

-I think two's probably the best.

-Yeah.

-Cos one's just...

it's not very safe. Often in competitions you can break your

-boards when you're stuck.

-Do you need gloves or...?

I don't think so, no.

You don't really need boots, either, but I think I'm so used to boots,

I just don't like the thought of not wearing boots any more.

It's kind of natural to me, so...

A kilt for the opening ceremony.

I'll look quite smart, I think.

And flags and stickers for Scotland.

Flags, yeah.

Stickers.

Bring my sunglasses.

-Towels?

-Sun cream.

Sun cream.

I won't have you there sticking factor 50 on me the whole time,

though, so I can actually tan this time, which'll be nice.

-I'll make sure Debbie sticks plenty sun cream on you.

-Nah.

-Do they have, like, a washing machine?

-Yeah.

-OK.

That's not too bad, then.

-Do you know how to work the washing machine?

-No!

THEY LAUGH

Welcome back to the 2016 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championships -

live from Sao Miguel Island in the Azores.

Almost 400 competitors and over 550 participants.

Please welcome the national team from Scotland.

MUSIC: Scotland The Brave by Wenches and Rogues

OK, this is finally it.

Round one.

Oh. I can't believe it.

Totally flat.

That's a set. Look how quickly it peaks up.

Watch, keep watching it.

Up it pops. And this is good for you because you could turn.

-You're just like turn, turn, turn.

-Yeah.

Come on, let's go and walk up there now.

I just want to try and take off on that and try and go along it

and maybe do a wee wiggle and

hopefully try and finish the wave off a little bit.

As soon as they get quieter, I'm just going to

-try and sit on that one's wake.

-And use that to calm down.

Just think, "Right, OK, I'm on the top of it, I've got this wave."

-And just...

-Yeah.

-..go for it.

-Yeah.

You know how best how to work it.

Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. It's weird, a few days ago I was

panicking it was going to be too big and now look at it.

I mean, all these guys, they can still do, like,

really proper vertical cutbacks on waves

that are, like, waist high but I can't. I actually can't.

Don't worry about that. Just do what you want to do.

Don't pooh-pooh yourself like you do.

-Don't compare yourself against everybody else.

-No.

Yeah, just go with it and just get yourself flushed in and good luck.

Enjoy yourself.

Go, Iona!

Before I was worried about it being totally extreme -

and now it's too calm.

I hope I can ride these weak waves.

-COMMENTATOR:

-And from Scotland, in the blue jersey, Iona McLachlan.

And we're seeing this girl.

She came here... She has never surfed without her wetsuit

so she is burning up in her thick wetsuit and her booties

because that's how she surfs 24/7.

Go, Iona!

A lot of surfers, you'll find, from the colder climates...

Here we go. This is Iona on a backhand.

And Iona McLachlan from Scotland, in blue, in fourth.

Now needing a 3.95 to move into second place.

Just under six minutes remaining in this heat.

This is going to be Iona's best wave, from Scotland,

a nice finish and re-entry there.

So, well done, Iona finally getting to grips with these waves.

OK, not so great from me.

I was just a fraction from third place but I learned a lot

and hopefully I'll do better in the next round.

It looks like we're going to have another interview.

-Go ahead.

-Now, we were talking about you in your wetsuit because surfing

in Scotland's very cold water, correct?

Yeah. I mean to be able to surf out in Scotland,

you need, like, 6mm, 5mm wetsuits, so, it's very different.

It was really fun and really different to the waves I'm used to

back home. It's pretty choppy right now and

it's not got much power in it. It was really hard. Fun, though.

-Got some waves.

-All right, you want to say hi to anybody back home?

Yeah, I'll say a shout out to some of my friends,

Laura, Rachel, Ellie, Morgan, Eva and I'll say hi to my mum -

she's all the way in Scotland - and the rest of my family.

That is not cold water on her face,

that is sweat from the wetsuit and I know she's dying to get that off

so we're going to let her go, OK?

-Thank you very much.

-OK, back over to you guys.

Yes, well she's got another chance, Iona, so hopefully the waves are

going to pick up and she can put a few more scores up on the board.

Yeah, and meanwhile...

PHONE RINGS Hey, Mum.

-Well, it's nice to see you.

-Yes.

It's so hot here. It's like...

I don't know. I didn't expect it.

I expected it to be quite a lot cooler.

It's weird surfing with so many people in the water, though.

Yeah. Not be what you're used to at all.

No, it's just packed and packed.

Did you look at the people that you're against?

I know I'm against some country that's, like, CRC.

Whatever that means. Is that Croatia?

I think that was Cost...

-Was it Costa Rica?

-IONA GROANS

And you're against Brazil.

Oh, no!

I've got no chance.

Not sounding too good, then.

-You'll be fine.

-Yeah.

-Go out and have fun.

-Mm-hmm. No-one here is like a bad surfer.

Like, I haven't seen one person that doesn't, like, rip.

Is it inspiring?

Yeah, kind of.

Kind of inspiring but kind of, like, puts you down a little bit too.

Any word on when your heats are on yet?

-After tomorrow, the swell starts picking up again.

-Yeah.

And by Wednesday, it's meant to be, like, triple overheads and I really

-don't want to have to be in that.

-Right.

-That'll be terrifying.

The conditions are pretty different today, though.

It is really rippy. A lot of wind to content with.

A lot of rip currents, a lot of water moving and if you don't get...

If you get unlucky, you're going to get taken across the beach.

Whoa!

We've already seen some other competitors struggling to get out.

You'll be fine. Just go and enjoy yourself.

I think these conditions might just be too tough for me.

Welcome back to the beautiful Azure islands here in Portugal.

There's our heat number three.

The rapid charge round number one of the girls under 18.

And how different are these from the main rounds?

Well, you're nervous energy is a high point.

You go into the rapid charge and now you realise it's do or die.

These beach breaks are intense.

I don't know if I can make it through them to even catch a wave.

See Iona there. We interviewed her just the other day.

I think the surf is very challenging for her.

She's in a very thick wetsuit that she's used to riding in Scotland

and she looks like...a little distressed there.

I'm sure the water safety is keeping an eye on her.

Yeah, tough conditions today.

We see Iona coming back in on the shoreline area.

Just a little bit too much for her out there

and she's making the right call.

Yeah, when in doubt, don't go out, that's for sure.

You were just about out that wee bit there and then...

How you feeling?

Er...I think I swallowed some water.

Just get yourself over there.

Over there. Yeah, just to the left a little bit.

We see Iona, she's going to give it another try.

She regroups, she probably talked to her coach and her team-mates

in there and they're properly telling her,

"Maybe don't go all the way out to the outside.

"Maybe take some of the inside waves."

I was so close to getting out but the force of the waves keeps pushing

me back. I'm not going to give up.

You're almost in there. You were almost out.

There's a girl in yellow that's just next to you. Right. In you go.

And again, and again.

Iona back out in the line-up for Team Scotland.

She's in the white jersey.

You've got to admire determination.

Go, Iona!

Come on!

Catch this!

Yes!

CHEERING

I did it. I rode that wave.

OK, only for a brief moment but it was the sweetest and hardest earned

wave I've ever caught.

-The best wave of the day.

-Fantastic.

I just want to say a big thank you to all the people who helped me

on the way.

-Oh-h-h-h...

-Scotland!

That was intense but it's great to be back home.

And the best thing of all is winter's coming

and that means one thing...

awesome surf.