We chat to the young British surfer from Portugal (via Manchester!) about ditching horses for waves, winning Boardmasters and loving John John Florence’s airs

Hey Keisha, well done for winning at Boardmasters! How was the contest for you?

The contest was really fun for me. I had my family come down from Manchester to watch and my brother Luis and my friend Emily also the weather was nice and the waves were fun and winning obviously made it better haha.

You seem to be ripping at contests right now, what’s your secret?

Hahaha thanks umm just training a lot and being focused and surfing with my brother 🙂

For people that don’t know you, can you give us some background info…

I was born in Manchester and I’d never known anything about surfing. I didn’t even know it existed and then my mum and dad decided to move to Portugal and my school was near the ocean so Luis tried it but I didn’t like it I was just into horse riding but one day he kind of forced me to try it and things went on from there. I was 13 and I was actually quite good when I started because the first thing I went on was a bodyboard and I stood up straight away on it which is weird and then Luis started getting me on a surfboard and I improved really quickly.

That’s a cool start. How old are you now and where do you live when not competing?

I’m 17 and I live in Ericeira in Portugal.

How big are your ambitions in surfing?

Umm I’m not 100 per cent sure! But I’m doing the PJ’s and WQS’s right now, I’m just aiming to do good in them at the moment and in the long term I’m not too sure I’ll have to wait and see. I’m working on doing airs right now. They are really hard but I’m training reverses and bigger turns like fin throws and more difficult and powerful turns which is what judges seem to score higher for:)

Which pro surfers impress you the most and why?

John John [Florence] is my favourite because his airs and turns are just crazy, how he lands some of them! And he is a really nice guy too.

And what about other heroes from other sports or life?  

Mum and dad because without them I definitely wouldn’t be here haha and Luis because he got me surfing.

What do you like doing when not surfing?

Umm I like shopping, baking cakes, haha it’s kind of tricky because almost all I do is surf.

Anything else you’d like to chat about?

So far this year has been really fun, I’ve been traveling a lot and training . It’s been great because I’ve met loads of new people and just been having so much fun with them and all. I’ve been focusing more on contests and training hard so it’s been a good year for me so far as I have already had some pretty good results and it’s still not over so I’m excited for what’s going to happen and thanks to you guys for doing an article on me 😀

Thanks Keshia!

For more Pro Chat love head here. Keisha Eyre is sponsored by Sanuk & Oakley