Longboarder has the passion to take on the world

The Californian became the youngest ever World Longboard champion in 2015

Former World Champion and now World number 2 Rachael Tilly shows her poise and grace hanging ten. Picture: Contributed

SURF SCENE WITH ANDREW MCKINNON

THERE'S no lack of World Champions on our Golden Coast and some slip under the radar like 20-year-old Bond University student Rachael Tilly.

The Californian became the youngest ever World Longboard champion in 2015 and last week came within a whisker of winning again to finish runner-up at Taiwan.

Fellow Californian Soleil Errico matched Tilly as the youngest 17 year-old to win the 2018 WSL World women's Longboard title at Taiwan.

Tilly has been enrolled as a Sports Management student at Bond Uni where she will continue to study in the new year after travelling home to California for Christmas.

"University and longboarding are my two main focuses. I hope to push these two passions forward into the future by taking my uni degree of Sports Management and using it to further the sport of Longboarding. "

Since her maiden World title three years ago, Tilly said women's longboarding continues to evolve,

"There's been a massive shift in the Women's Longboard tour and its competitors. The next generation of Women's longboarding has arrived and is surfing amazing. Looking into next year, the tour is taking a different approach with multiple stops and opportunities to perform.”

Renown for her poise and grace on a longboard, Rachael has been on the World Tour for six years and is not about to hang up her boots.

The 20-year-old Californian Bond University student calls Gold Coast home while studying Sports Management. Picture: Contributed

"Finishing with a second place has only placed a greater fire under me to go for it again next year! This event was great because I took the approach of just enjoying the moment of surfing and appreciating the competition side of longboarding. I'm still only 20 years old and definitely have many more years left in me on the tour.”

Tilly calls Australia and Bond University her home base for the next few years.

"I'm looking forward to continuing my studies and competing on the tour with Australia as my base for 2019. Our first event will be taking place at Noosa, not too far up the road and to have my brother, Michael, living in Aus with me as my coach makes it even better! "

Tilly likes riding short boards too.

"I do love to switch it up every so often and jump on a shortboard. Honestly, whenever I jump on a shortboard, I have a great time but it only confirms my love and passion for longboarding even more. "

Joining the Burleigh Longboard club has been a great move.

"The BLC has been so great to join since moving to the GC. I found an awesome community of longboarders with them straight away and love heading down to the beach and seeing friendly faces on a regular basis. Definitely a club I love being in of and have been warmly welcomed.”

Tilly's passion with longboarding is equal with her passion for ocean conservation.

"Living and surfing everyday on the Gold Coast has only continued to increase this passion. It's important we continue to take care of our beaches and our oceans so we can continue to appreciate it for years to come!”