Jack Tyro, a 17-year-old from Christchurch has been shreading gnarly waves for about ten years now.

Now, Jack is taking his longboard surfing talent to the main stage, which was made possible with funding from the Sport Canterbury Foundation (CSF).

At the end of September and start of October of 2023, Jack competed in the four-day longboard event in the surf capital, Bells Beach located in Victoria, Australia.

“I’m really grateful for the funding which allowed me to go to a trials competition at Bells Beach that I luckily won, and I was able to go on to the WSL longboard tour main event.”

The Sumner based, Hagley College student, lives and breathes surfing as “It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, my mates surf, my dad surfs and it’s just something that I've learnt to love.”

Jack’s love for surfing was passed down to him by one of his idols, his dad, and one day hopes to be the best in the world.

“The cool thing is you never know what surfing is going to do, and you never know what the surf is going to be like, so you just have to see what tomorrow brings.”

Being in the New Zealand Junior team last year, Jack has hopes to carry on surfing for many years to come.

“It’s just something that I’ve learnt to love, something that I will take with me my whole life.”

“Hanging out in the ocean, it’s something else.”