Austinn Lane, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

A Wallaroo student has received world recognition for her hand-painted surfboard.

With help from her neighbour, who had experience in fibreglassing, 11-year-old Trinity spent six months painting her board during the 2024 season in preparation for 2025.

The board features dolphin artwork and inspirational messages from her family and loved ones, reminding her to give it her all in competition.

“I painted the board because it looked old. I wanted it to look newer, but it also taught me to respect and look after it,” Trinity said.

On the side of her board, she has written the word Thalassophile.

“It means lover of the sea in Greek,” Trinity said.

Her board caught the attention of someone in Miami, who donated money to support Trinity’s surf-lifesaving goals. It was also recognised by someone in Spain, who contacted the family and donated $2500 to Henley Surf Lifesaving Club.

Trinity recently competed in the Surf Lifesaving State Championships, held at Grange on February 23 and Seacliff on March 1 and 2, representing Henley.

She won gold in the 100m beach sprint event and qualified for six of her seven event finals.

She and her mum Rachael travel to Henley Surf Lifesaving Club every Saturday for training and competition.

“Some weeks we have to go down there two or three times for her training,” Rachael said.

Trinity finished top 10 in the one kilometre beach run event and achieved a top seven finish in board rescue, competing in the event for the first time.

Her hard work has paid off, improving her state ranking from 71st last season to 36th this season.

“To me, this sport is more competitive than footy,” Trinity said.

She also competes in pool lifesaving tournaments and is training hard for upcoming competitions.

Representing Henley’s pool team, she will compete at Marion Aquatic Centre in May and June, with nationals scheduled for August 8-10.

“It is my first season doing pool rescue; I’m so excited to do rescues in winter,” Trinity said.

“I will be learning to rescue mannequins off the bottom of the pool and rescue half mannequins with a tube.”

Now in her fifth season at Henley Lifesaving Club, Trinity has moved into division I for her age group.

“It is a great sport to get into because she can get a job out of it, like a swim coach or swim instructor,” Rachael said.

Trinity is looking forward to receiving an inspiration book featuring her surfboard, but in the meantime, she will continue training 17 hours a week in preparation for another big season ahead.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 25 March 2025.