Big tubes are a home comfort for Australian junior surf champion Coral Durant

Coral Durant may be stuck at home for now, but there are few better places for an Australian junior surf champion to be. Her dad, Reid, said Coral was using the lay-off from competitive surfing, because of the pandemic, to concentrate on school work and her barrel riding. “If the borders were open, she probably would have flown across for another pro junior, and it’s possibly looking like she won’t get to go to the worlds at the end of this year, which was a pretty big thing for her,” he said. Coral had been due to compete at a junior State round in Denmark, as well as the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship next year. She won the under-18 Australian title in December. “There’s not much we can do; just keep her training and surfing as much as possible and concentrating on doing her Year 12 as well,” he said. He said the challenges of school at Red Bluff were “just the same as any kid on any station”. “It’s obviously not as good as being at a private school or a boarding school where you’re 100 per cent focused,” he said. “They have to self-motivate, which is a good thing to learn. “This year with less of a travel schedule, she’s able to concentrate more on Year 12 and working on her barrel-riding skills, which are going pretty well.” Durant’s Instagram page showed multiple shots of his daughters riding heavy surf. “They’ve been surfing as much as possible; getting some pretty fun waves,” he said. Reid said Coral was following in a family tradition. “Coral (has) followed in her older sisters Alex, Marnie and Denni’s footsteps,” he said. “They’re all quite capable surfers.”