Silver for boy, 16, in world surfing championships

A 16-year-old surfer from Cornwall has won a silver medal at a world surfing championship.

Lukas Skinner from Perranporth won the medal at the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador.

He competed as part of the under 16s boys England Juniors team between 3-12 May in Surf City.

He said he was disappointed to miss out on the gold but "second in the world still feels good".

"To win silver back to back in the ISA World Juniors feels insane," he said.

"I felt like my surfing was the best it's ever been in competition and in the heats the waves were pumping, but in the final the waves went flat.

"Having said that, I'm super happy with how I performed, particularly under pressure in some situations. I've learnt a lot."

He said the result has spurred him on to come back "even stronger" in next year's competition.

Lukas' father, Ben Skinner, is third in the World Surf League Longboard Tour and coached the junior team at the championships.

Mr Skinner, 39, whose daughter also surfs, said: "I feel really lucky that they've fallen into the same path and have the same love for surfing as I have, and it just allows us to follow a similar dream and do stuff together, which is really unique for father and son, father and daughter."

Lukas said a highlight of his career so far was becoming the U16 World Grom Surfing Champion in Australia last year.

He added: "Last year in Brazil, I got second in the ISA World Juniors... and for me, that was my biggest achievement yet because there's so many surfers and you have to make so many heats."

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