Locals rake in top spots at KZN para surf champs
The number of Durbanites now competing in the event has risen drastically since the sport's championships back in 2019.
HIGHWAY’S Jodie Kroone was among the handful of local athletes who raked in podium finishes at the recent KZN Para Surfing Championships at Addington Beach.
The event was hosted by Made for More – a sport, mental health and disability NPO that headlines Para Surfing in the province. Para Surfing, otherwise known as adaptive surfing, allows people with disabilities to take to the waves.
Thirty four athletes participated in the KZN champs this year, well above the 26 athletes who competed from across South Africa in the previous SA Para Surfing Championships in 2019.
“The day was pure perfection. We had the perfect weather and sea conditions and a beautiful group of people coming together. I think the joy, the freedom and the hope was tangible and written all over the surfers’ faces. Everyone who was present felt something that can’t really be expressed with words,” said the founder of Made for More, Julia Morris.
With the South African Para Surfing Championships set for 28 to 30 May at New Pier in Durban, the organisers hope to see the numbers of competitors rise and for more people with disabilities to gain access and opportunities to take to the waves and represent their province.
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Four South African Para Surfers were part of this year’s field, including Tracy McKay, Caleb Swanepoel and Erynn Geddie who took first place in their divisions and Sabelo Ngema snapped up a second place spot. Tracy is ranked second in the world in the Prone Assist division and Sabelo Ngema is ranked seventh in the world in the Visual Impairment 2 division. Both athletes also competed in the 2020 World Para Surfing Championships in La Jolla, California.
Jodi Kroone, who is a newcomer to the sport, dominated. She surprised herself in the process and took the win in the hotly contested prone assist women’s division.
“The evident skill of the competitors was not the only memorable feature of the day. As was shown in the Expression Session, where people with disabilities, who had never surfed before, took to the water for the first time. Guided and supported by the excellent water-assist team, the joy was written all over the faces of the para surfers of the future,” said Morris.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
