TWO young surfers from Launceston have thanked their local Rotary Club, as they say without their support they might not have been able to attend the recent championships and clinch an all important top three place.

Kaleia and Arabella Peres travelled to Las Palmas Tenerife in early December 2025 for a prestigious surf competition.

The Euro Kids European surfing competition is designed to challenge individuals, testing them against other talented surfers in their age group.

Young Cornish surfer, Kaleia, at just nine years old, achieved 3rd in the under-10 girl’s category in challenging conditions, surfing “massive” waves. She was commended for improving from last year’s result where she finished 4th.

Arabella, Kaleia’s sister, unfortunately missed out on the final for the under 12s, but she had the opportunity to train at the event, giving her valuable experience that she hopes will benefit her surf competitions in the future. The girl’s mother, Belinda Peres, explained that the level of surfing gets more difficult as the age groups increase.

Both Kaleia and Arabella hope to return to the competition and the final next year to improve their results — where Kaleia is aiming to achieve gold.

The girls are incredibly grateful for the help from Launceston Rotary Club who supported them with a financial gift, helping them travel to Las Palmas Tenerife for their competition.

Belinda explained that surfing is an expensive sport when including the cost of the surfboards, wetsuits and travelling for the competition and training.

They wanted to express their gratitude to the Rotary for their financial support because without it, they said, the girls would have struggled to attend.

They added that they are also grateful to their schools, Launceston College and Tregadillett Primary School, for giving them time off to attend the competition.