Last month Surf City in El Slavador saw 419 athletes from 45 different countries hit the water over an action-packed nine days at the ISA World Junior Championship.

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Buckpitt, who hails from Culburra Beach and is an Ulladulla Boardrider, was selected to the Junior Irukandjis team after a fantastic run of performances

The young surfer secured the Australian Junior Online Surf Championships Under 18 Girls title in October 2021, and was also runner up at the Surfing NSW State Championships in Wollongong.

Buckpitt said the international experience was everything she could have hoped for.

"I loved it. I was so privileged to be a part of such a great team, I've made lifelong friendships," she said.

"The whole trip was just amazing and the quality of everyone's surfing was next level, it was so good to watch, it was more than I could have ever hoped for."

She said the experience was a little confronting at first with the sheer spectacle of the event as well every team wildly chanting for their representative surfer from heat to heat.

However, once Buckpitt got through her first heat and was greeted on the beach by the Aussie team forming a tunnel for her she immediately settled in, with added help from having her mum and dad with her on the trip.

Surfing is an individual sport but Buckpitt said the camaraderie of the Irukandjis team was unlike anything she'd really experienced in other competitions.

The local surfing star put forth a gutsy performance finishing ninth out of 96 competitors, but was annoyed that an unlucky injury cost her from possibly finishing even higher.

"I won my heat and was coming back in when a wave knocked me across some sharp rocks," she said.

"I stabbed my leg on a barnacle and grazed my back and thigh, it hurt a lot."

What made it even more frustrating for Buckpitt was the surfing heats being run back to back, meaning she only had about 30 minutes to get fixed before she was back in the water again, this time a little worse for wear.

"I was so close to getting through to the next round but knew I'd done my best," she said.

"Everyone there was surfing above and beyond which made you up your level too, it was so good."

At the conclusion of the tournament, Hawaii secured their first gold since 2014, while the strong Aussie team scored silver, with USA notching bronze and France collecting copper.

"It meant everything to me to be on such an awesome team, especially with Australia ranking second out of 45 countries," Buckpitt said.

"I've never felt so proud to be an Australian.When we stood and they played the National Anthem to the whole assembly, we sang it loud and proud, it was amazing."

Since returning to the land of Oz Buckpitt hasn't slowed down, most recently placing second in the Skullcandy Oz Grom which attracted some of the best surfing talent from around the country.

"Placing second was amazing, we had some crazy conditions on the day so was stoked to get to the final," she said.

"In one heat the sweep was so strong we all got washed down the beach out of the competition zone so they had to restart our heat."

"The level of girls surfing is so high especially at comps like the Skullcandy, I'm stoked I got as far as I did."

Looking to the future, Buckpitt recently qualified to represent NSW at the Australian Titles in December at Stradbroke Island.

The athlete said until then she is going to prioritise working on her heat management skills and improving her turns and strength.