By Andrea Swayne
Ryann Daly, 11, of Dana Point, is just beginning her first year of shortboard competition and is already making a name for herself among upcoming girls in her age bracket.
Having surfed for four years, Ryann felt she was ready to start competing and has made her debut in this year’s Western Surfing Association Championship Tour in the Girls U12 Shortboard division. So far she is two for two in podium appearances, having earned a runner-up spot at the season opener in August at San Onofre State Park Trail 6 and a fifth-place finish at event No. 2, Sept. 19 and 20 in Ventura.
“In my first heat (in Ventura) I didn’t feel like I did very well and I was scared that I wasn’t going to make it out, but I did,” Ryann said. “In my second heat I tried very hard to step up my game and show that I could pull through. The final was a little tough for me but I was happy to get there.”
Ryan is a straight-A-earning sixth-grader at Marco Forster Middle School where she has landed a spot on the surf team and is looking forward to representing her school in upcoming events.
“I like contests because they really bring out my competitive side,” Ryann said. “It’s fun to push yourself, to see how you can do against girls that are better than you.”
Coming from a surfing family—mom competed on the San Clemente High School surf team and dad on the Capo Valley High team and a grandpa and uncle who are also surfers—Ryann is happy to have plenty of built-in coaches in the family.
“I love it. They help me with things I need to progress on and I have a lot of support from them, both free surfing and in competition,” she said. “I want to keep the family thing going and am hoping to surf on the Dana Hills team when I get to high school.”
We are expecting to see great things from this talented grom in the future.
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