THE province’s first-ever Special Need’s Surf Competition took place at Addington beach on Sunday 2 August and proved to be a resounding success.
Seven talented young surfers, five of them from the Open Air School, competed for a number of different prizes with a large crowd of supporters cheering them on in the 2-3ft surf.
Dean Hart proved to be fearless when he won the Biggest Wave of the Day award.
The Stand Up award went to visually impaired youngster, Erynn Geddie, who impressed the judges with his stand up surfing abilities, riding a number of waves to the shore on his minimal surfboard. Charger of the Day award went to the only female entrant Sarah Wright and the Stoke award for demonstrating his sheer passion for wave riding went to Mohamed Essack. Longest Wave of the Day went to Luke Lotter for riding a few waves from the back line right up onto the sand and Danito Mondlane won the Ripper of the Day award for his stylish approach to wave riding. Sebastian Orbe won the Most Waves in a Heat award.
The contest director, Wez Smith, said: “Thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors and spectators on the day. The quality of surfing was very promising, some of the grommets show potential to become real chargers one day.”
The event was the brainchild of Smith, whose son Reece attends the Open Air School for children with physical disabilities. Smith invited some of Reece's friends to join them bodyboarding and they loved it so much that Smith organised a surfing session every few weeks for the group to practice. Although the five participants have only had a few training sessions, they are avid surfers and excited to take to the water again.
Dries Millard – a former junior Springbok rugby player who was left a paraplegic following a tragic car accident – has been integral in growing support for adaptive surfing in Cape Town and has been involved with a number of Surfing South Africa events targeting differently-abled surfers. Millard was on hand on the day to inspire and encourage all of the youngsters taking part and he performed a demonstration with beach wheelchairs and modified surfboards to show the young watermen and women what they too can achieve if they put their minds to it.-
Overcoming the odds, Millard helped set up Extreme Abilities, an organisation that helps those with disabilities experience alternative sports. Millard was also recently selected by Surfing South Africa to represent his country at the inaugural ISA World Adaptive Surfing Champs in San Diego in September.
Organisers hope to attract more special needs competitors to future practice sessions and events.
