By JONATHAN BURROWS

Tribune Sports Reporter

jburrows@tribunemedia.net

ELIZA Denning is known for making waves on the water as an elite young sailor, but she is showing she can make them on a surfboard too.

Denning kept The Bahamas’ run alive at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships yesterday, advancing from her Under-18 Girls repechage heat at El Sunzal in El Salvador.

The young Bahamian finished second in Repechage 1, Heat 5 with a combined score of 3.27, behind Ecuador’s Ambar Garcia, who won the heat with 12.00. Guatemala’s Cristel Rivera finished third with 2.24.Denning will return to the water today in Heat 9 at El Sunzal as the final Bahamian surfer remaining in the competition.

Coach Tom Glucksmann was pleased with Denning’s performance, particularly the way she managed the closing stages of the heat.

“Eliza surfed a great heat and I loved how she ended the heat by using priority to sit on the surfer from Guatemala and make sure she didn’t catch a wave,” Glucksmann said.

“The carve on her second wave was awesome.”

Glucksmann said Denning’s improvement was less about making major technical adjustments and more about putting herself in a better position mentally and taking advantage of the conditions in her heat.

“I’m not sure it was adjustments but more the fact she had an easier heat in easier waves.

“And we’ve been working on an ‘I think I can’ mindset,” he said.

Advancing has given Denning an important confidence boost heading into another challenging heat.

“It definitely gives me more confidence for the next round and my surfing in general, but the next round will be quite difficult so I’m just focusing on trying to surf the best I can,” Denning said.

While Denning continues her run, 13-year-old Isaiah Thompson’s competition came to an end at La Bocana.

Thompson posted his highest single-wave score of the morning, a 1.07, during his repechage heat, but was eliminated after finishing fourth.

Glucksmann said Thompson showed the approach the team wanted to see despite the result. “Isaiah showed a solid aggressive approach and trusted his instincts to trust his reads of the waves and surf his own heat,” Glucksmann said.

The experience gained by the young Bahamian team has been just as important as the results, according to Glucksmann. “The experience and learning gained here is everything to our young team and our main goal,” he said.

Glucksmann wants Denning to take that same approach into her next heat and enjoy the opportunity.

“It’s only Eliza left in the draw for us now,” Glucksmann said. “I’d like to see her surf another good heat, make some of her best turns and get her best heat total. But really just have fun doing it.”