Geraldton-born Maddie Barrett takes top gong at WA Longboard Championships in her debut

Geraldton-born Maddie Barrett claimed the State Title at the WA Longboard Championships in Denmark over the weekend.

Competing from Cottesloe, Barrett hails originally from Geraldton and this was her debut at the State championships.

The three-day competition was at Parry beach, Denmark, with the first two days providing perfect conditions. But the finals proved challenging, with large and powerful swells.

The first-time competitor took out the open women’s division, with her change up and mix of flow and style putting her ahead of the pack.

Competing in the Denmark waters, Barrett scored a heats-high 7.00 out of 10, which was followed up by a score of 5.67, with her total of 12.67 putting her well above the rest.

Barrett was able to overcome seasoned challengers including Perth’s Georgia Young (9.63), Scarborough’s Yomi Chen (6.80) and Dunsborough’s Shae Sheridan (4.60), who all took out second to fourth place respectively.

Barrett said she was thrilled to claim the win.

“This is my first State championship event, I’ve done a few events before, but this feels amazing,” she said.

“I love longboarding and I need to thank my friend Georgia Hanson for convincing me to sign up, it’s been such a fun event and Denmark is such a beautiful location.”

Gascoyne competitor Dane Quirk from Exmouth found success as well, taking out the over-40 men’s division win after coming in as the reigning champion.

Quirk defended his title during his final ride that got him over the line with a total score of 11.70, beating out Scott Trew from Gabbadah (11.37) by a slim margin, Andrew Bland from Dunsborough (9.20) and Paul Burke also from Dunsborough (6.93).

Now the competition will come to Barrett’s home backyard, with the upcoming Geraldton Winter Classic being held in June, which will help the WA locals prepare ahead of the national titles later this year.