BRIDESTOWE based surf fanatic , 16 year-old Annie Westlake, is the latest top young athlete from the region to join he new specialist sports academy school on-site at the University of St Mark and St John (Marjon) in Plymouth.

Annie, who has been surfing since she was five, recently took third place in the National Youth Surfing Championships at Newquay in the under 18s longboard category. She has her eyes firmly on becoming a sports physiotherapist in the future.  

Plymouth Studio School. which is on-site at Marjon, offers a unique curriculum for 14-19 year olds who want to combine their studies with high sports performance or to get a head-start on a career in sport.

Annie trains with her dad, John Westlake, a former surf champion who, with his father, founded Alder Sportswear- a local surfwear business which brought  boardshorts and the latest in high tech surf gear to the region 50 years ago.  

Annie, who is a qualified lifeguard, is studying biology, psychology and physical education A levels at the school, as well as taking part in the High Performance Sports programme which is helping with her surfing ambitions.

She  said: ‘It’s fantastic to be able to study for the qualifications I need for my sports career but also be part of the school’s High Performance Sports programme. This means I have my own personal training programme designed to help me with balance and upper body strength, as well as working with Olympic sports psychologist and head of sports performance, Jon Rhodes, doing things like yoga and meditation for focus.

‘It’s amazing to be able to include this level of training in my school day, to have all the facilities we need on-site and to be surrounded by other sports students.  We really encourage each other to push ourselves and achieve our goals.’

Annie joins students from across the region who are already competing at national or international level or representing team GB in their age group, including Taekwondo World Champions, Tavistock-based Tate Budge and Plymouth based Rhys Roffey, Modern Pentathlete Kay Bryson, Plymouth divers Matt Dixon and Jody Powell-Tuckett, Cornwall based Leander Club swimmers Joe Tibbetts and Lily Parsons and Looe based rowing hopeful, Elizabeth Stacey.