When Cuan Macgregor took up longboarding at the beginning of this year he probably didn’t think he’d be crowned the national champion in his age group before winter.
When Cuan Macgregor took up longboarding at the beginning of this year he probably didn’t think he’d be crowned the national champion in his age group before winter.
The Graeme College Grade 10 pupil went to compete in the Tiletoria South African Longboard Surfing Championships held in Muizenberg, Cape Town, last weekend.
Now he’s the U16 South African champ.
Competing along with his father, well-known local surfer David Macgregor, Cuan said he was brought up in a surfing family and started surfing at the age of four.
Cuan was selected to be part of the Eastern Province (EP) longboarding side after finishing second in various U16 provincial trials this year.
Representing EP at the national competition running from 28 April to 4 May, categories ranged from U14 to Over 60.
Cuan won the U16 first-round event before moving on to the various knock-out stages, beating top longboarders from across the country.
Going toe-to-toe with the U16 EP longboarding champion in the final, Cuan's flair and style clinched him the title.
The U14 and U16 categories usually use an eight-foot longboard, while other categories use a nine-foot longboard. However, Cuan decided to use the longer nine-foot board.
While the longer nine-foot board is “harder to turn”, Cuan said walking up and down the longer board is an advantage.
So what does this ambitious boarder plan to tackle next?
Cuan said his next major event will be the national champs again next year, but by that time he will be in the U18 age group. He aspires to make it onto the SA team to compete in international events.
The U16 team is currently not part of the international set-up.
Meanwhile, proud dad David took second spot in the 40-45 age category.
