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Fifteen-year-old Tassy Swallow was announced the winner out of a strong list of nominees, in front of an audience of 300 people, who cheered her to the rafters as she made the long walk to be presented with the award by Global Boardriders.

"We were sitting right up near the back and on the far end of the row," said Tassy.

"When they read out my name I had to climb over loads of people's legs to get out, and then get all the way down to the stage with people clapping and cheering and the spotlights swirling round. It was awesome and a bit scary!"

Cornwall's Tassy Swallow

The award marks the end of a phenomenal year of achievement for the St Ives' School student, who won the British title in her division, competed for Great Britain at the 2008 World Junior Games, and made her debut on the European pro-junior circuit, finishing the second highest ranked British woman after a gruelling summer of competition in France, Spain and Portugal.

Following a rigorous series of fitness and physiological tests, she also emerged as the only woman nationally from the English Institute of Sport's Girls4Gold programme to be put forward for training with the Olympic Windsurfing squad, to further assess her potential as a possible competitor in the 2012 Olympics.

She is also awaiting the outcome of a nomination by the national governing body, the British Surfing Association, for one of only 20 prestigious individual scholarships awarded by the World Governing Body, the International Surfing Association.

Out of the water, Tassy regularly works on her fitness at a kickboxing gym in Penzance.

Tassy surfing

Tassy paid tribute to her mentor Laurence Couch, coach Joel Gray, her sponsors, parents and St Ives School, all of whom have done much to support her ambition to be a professional surfer.

She also sent out 'a massive thank you' to the local people and companies in Penwith who recently responded to an appeal for funding to allow the British team to compete in Ecuador.

"It's a great honour to have won this award, and I'm really stoked by the recognition it gives to surfing as a sport," says Tassy.

Tassy has just returned from California, where she spent three weeks preparing for the forthcoming 2009 World Junior Surfing Games.

Soon she flies to Ecuador with the Great Britain team for a week's acclimatisation and final preparation for the World Games, which begin on March 27.