A 17-YEAR-OLD national windsurfing champion has told of how he got into the sport, as he trains for the windsurfing World Cup.

Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) student Lucas Meldrum has been training at Lagoon Watersports in Hove for nearly eight years.

He won the British Wavesailing Association overall youth title in 2016, and took the men’s amateur title in 2017.

Earlier this year he came 9th in his first UK men’s pro competition, the National Cup Championships in Weymouth.

His next challenge will come with the Professional Windsurfing Association 2018 World Cup in Tenerife, which takes place on the August 4.

He said: “I’m going to go out there and enjoy it.

“I’m competing in the youth category which runs alongside the men’s, but the standard there is really high, especially with some of the kids from the Canaries.”

Lucas competes in a category of windsurfing called wavesailing, where competitors are judged on the height and technical ability of their jumps.

One of the youngest athletes to compete in his sport at a professional level, Lucas was first introduced to the sport by his dad.

He said: “I started learning on holidays in Greece with my Dad, and then once I got back I wanted to carry on.

“I did a few sessions at Lagoon Watersports and got really into it and became a member there, and that’s where it all kicked off.”

Lucas started competing in regional racing competitions, before moving on to the freestyle and then the wavesailing formats of the sport.

“I train as much as I can here in Brighton just off the beach in Hove. It’s not exactly Hawaii here, we don’t get great consistency with conditions but it’s a great platform to start from.

“I learnt here in the lagoon and over the years I’ve pushed myself more and more.”

Asked if he would recommend the sport to other young people, he said:

“Definitely. It’s hard but that’s the reason I want to do it.

“There’s other sports like wakeboarding that you can get the hang of pretty quickly, but for people who really want to try something they can carry on and improve, windsurfing is the one.

“You can never stop. From standing up, to going along, to going out into the sea, there’s always something to look forward to.

“The feeling of skidding across the water and jumping through the air is like nothing else really.”