At just 22 years old, Tramore native Tom Breen is about to ride the wave of a lifetime again.
The local surfer is set to represent Ireland at the ISA Longboard World Championships in El Salvador later this month, where two of the best male and female surfers from each country will compete for international glory.
Last year, he finished 13th place in the World Championships, but this year, he’s hoping to take things a step further.
Tom’s journey started when he was just six years old, growing up in Tramore .“We generally get storms and rain here in Ireland,” Tom says, “so you kind of just have to adapt and deal with every day differently and see how it goes.”
Surfing runs deep in his bloodline. In 2023, Tom made headlines when he claimed the national longboard title — 25 years after his father won the same crown back in 1998.
He didn’t stop there either, defending his title successfully in 2024.
He also made waves on the European stage, finishing fourth in the European Championships.
Tom Breen and team at the ISA Longboard World Championships in El Salvador last year
All eyes are now on El Salvador.“We’ll have two travel days to get there. The time difference will take time to adjust to,” he explains. “We will be up bright and early and hopefully the first day we’ll probably be in the water for five or six o’clock in the morning, and try to get one or two practice surfs in and just take it easy. From the second day, we’ll head down and do some stretching, hit the gym, the whole lot. So it’ll be pretty full on for the first four days before we compete.”
Tom Breen riding the waves in El Salvador
The ISA (International Surfing Association) has been the heart of competitive surfing for decades, having crowned its first Men’s and Women’s World Champions back in 1964.
“Generally, for the moment, I’m just doing it as a sport, but I’m trying to get back to the club here,” he says. “They have the biggest surf club in the country. So they provide groups for adults that want to learn surfing, kids that are kind of just getting into surfing, and then more performance squads to give kids a pathway to make Irish teams and progress.”
As he heads off to El Salvador, there’s no doubt that Tramore and all of Ireland will be cheering him on.
You can hear more from Tom on WLR Sport Bulletins and Déise Today from next week.
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