It is the 22-year-old body board instructor’s father who has more experience at bellyboarding, and Tabby says she entered the World Championships at Chapel Porth in North Cornwall as ‘a great excuse to have a father daughter day out.’

But despite having become British bodyboarding champion as a teenager in 2010, not even she could have been prepared for what followed. Bellyboarding for the first time without flippers in the swimsuit only event,Tabby hit the waves for a ten-minute session in the female junior category, catching some good waves before an absolute stormer, which had the judges cheering.

After watching her dad, who went well but didn’t place in the junior men’s, the top performers were announced from the 700 entrants across all categories.Of the 140 junior females, Tabby had come second.

“We saw they announced my name as second place, dad was so flabbergasted he kept hitting me saying ‘that’s you, that’s you!’” she said. “Bemused, I wandered up in disbelief and as they congratulated me, I realised I was suddenly second in the world for female bellyboarding – never saw that coming!”

“I was gutted that dad didn’t get placed in the junior men’s, but I couldn’t have been prouder of him – I thought he ripped!”

“Without his passion for the waves and driftwood, I wouldn’t have even entered or have become a bodyboarder, so I couldn’t have been happier to have shared a very fun, special day with my dad.”

Since the event, Tabby has found out that she not only placed second in her category, but that she also placed above the best in the men’s event and came second in the world overall.

“Winning the British Championships for bodyboarding and going to the European Championships with the England team was the best achievement I’ve had, but it’s a pretty cool thing to say that I’m second in the world now.”