By Andrea Swayne
Grom of the Week: Noah Atwood
Age: 12, Shorecliffs Middle School
Noah Atwood of Capistrano Beach competed for his Shorecliffs Middle School surf team last year, ending the season ranked No. 4 out of 37 in the SSS Middle School Boys Longboard division. This summer he’s practicing on both long and shortboards and will try out for both divisions in the fall. Noah also finished the last WSA season as the No. 7 rated surfer in the Boys U14 Longboard division. Noah speaks Spanish fluently and loves traveling to surf and use his language skills. This summer he took a trip to Mexico to surf with his older brother Jacob and friend Ethan Mudge. “It was really fun and we got some great waves in parts of Mexico I’ve never seen before. I love exploring new surf breaks. We surfed mostly K-38 and Las Gaviotas,” Noah said. In school Noah is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ student. He will start 7th grade this year and is committed to working as hard as he can to get straight ‘As.’ When asked who has the biggest influence on his surfing, Noah said he likes to watch and try to emulate his favorite pro surfer Dane Reynolds. “I love how he does big airs. Also, my brother Jacob is really good and I look up to him. He’s really nice to me and he helps me out a lot,” he said. “I hope me and my brother can be pro surfers together some day like the Irons and the Hobgoods, or local guys like the Gudauskas brothers and Greg and Rusty Long.”
