History was made on the final day of competition at the 2022 Pismo Beach ISA World Para Surfing Championship Hosted by AmpSurf, with thirteen World Champions crowned on a groundbreaking day of action in wild and wooly conditions.
Team South Africa did not disappoint! 3 Podium finishes by Jean-Paul Veaudry who won Silver (2nd place) in the Mens Stand 2, Tracy McKay won Bronze (3rd place) in the Womens Prone 1 and Doug Hendrikz who won Copper (4th place). An epic 6 days of competing in variable weather conditions placed the South African team in 5th place out of a total of 28 countries, their highest achievement to date.
Gold medals from Sarah Bettencourt and Liv Stone once again helped deliver defending champions Team USA their unprecedented third gold medal in the all important Team World Championship. Bettencourt and Stone both won their third World Title in a row. “I want to dedicate this win to all the other women that showed up at this event,” Stone said. “It’s a record number of women. It’s incredible and I’m stoked to get more and more up and coming women in the sport of adaptive surfing.”
Of the 20 South African team members, 5 athletes, 2 coaches, the Head Coach and Team Manager were all women. In 2023 the team aims to have a 50/50 gender split between the athletes.
ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:
“What an amazing week, what an amazing event! Congratulations to all the medalists in all the divisions and all of the people back home who make this incredible event possible for the athletes.
“Seeing new generations of athletes fills my heart with happiness. Now let’s wait for the news. More than ever I believe Para Surfing belongs in the Paralympics.”
RESULTS
Team Rankings
Gold – USA (10,890)
Silver – France (10,695)
Bronze – Spain (10,448)
Copper – Brazil (10,440)
Views: 0