Magic Moments

TEAM SA: The spirit in the South African camp was perhaps the highest at the event. Photo ISA

I am always grateful to have two legs and two arms and a fully functioning body, but standing on the beach at the finals of the over these past few days, made me envious of this very special bunch of people. It has been magical to say the least. Not one complaint, no side swipes and definitely no bombarding the judges or officials. Instead, all I heard from the beach was laughter and cheering and all I saw was hugging, old and new friends uniting, competitors really wishing each other well, and the most amount of stoke I have seen at any surf contest (and I have been at a few in my life)

Team South Africa, although small in numbers, had a massive heart. We made the most amount of noise (ok, the nifty Norwegians and the boisterous Brazilians came close). We came together to support our competitors and everyone felt like a winner after their heats. Adaptive Surfing has a very interesting way of bringing people together. Someone who knows someone, or who is related to another, arrived on the beach and before we knew it, our support crew swelled to a big rowdy Saffer crew. Our uber driver even came to join us, after hearing about it whilst we were being ferried to the beach. She simply turned off her phone and became a South African supporter for a few hours. And each one of us made new special friends. I didn’t want to a be anywhere else in the world.

YELLOW AND GOLD: Ant Smyth went one up on last year. Photo ISA

Each evening, whoever could congregated at the local watering hole, The Shore Rider (Team SA unofficial headquarters!) to recap the day’s happenings. One night we saw ISA Judge Bongani Zulu in the corner but we kept a wide berth for obvious reasons. It became the place to relax and chat and share a beer or two. On the night before the finals, the only two who were a little on edge, were finalists in the AS1 Division - JP Veaudry and Antony Smyth. For good reason. There were medals at stoke, sorry I mean, stake!

And what a final that AS1 Division was. To have two South Africans in one final heat together is unique and special. We were so proud as they entered the water to surf against Hawaiian Mike Coots and Japanese surfer, Kenjiro Ito. Standing on the edge of the water, as they started surfing was kind of surreal. JP Veaudry had posted the highest heat total (17.94 our of 20) of the contest leading into the finals, and Antony had the highest single wave score (9.93) and both JP and Antony were the only ones to post scores in the 9’s in their division - and they had 9 of the top ten scores in the contest. And they are very good friends. Those stats are just mind boggling.

Team South Africa was buzzing.

TWO FROM THREE: JP Veaudry took 3rd in the AS1 final. Photo ISA

We heard the live feed, we watched the scores drop on our little devices and our hearts thumped in our chests. It was very close.

The waves got smaller and smaller as the heat progressed which made it challenging for all the surfers. Ultimately it came down to the luck of the waves and the ability to surf on a small San Diego wave and Antony (who had a board shaped by Dennis Ellis for these specific conditions) clinched the Gold in the last few moments of the finals. It was a nerve wracking 25 minutes to say the least. When JP and Antony came out the water together, there were tears on the beach. It was that sort of moment.

On his medal win, JP said, “Winning every one of my heats, posting the highest scoring ride at one stage, and achieving the highest total heat score of the event, has been a major achievement. Unfortunately, during the finals, the tide went dead low and with that saw the demise of the swell. Putting my 90kg frame to the ultimate test, I gave it my all and won the Bronze Medal - I achieved my goal - to bring home a medal for my country and my family”. He continued “I couldn’t have done this without the support from my family, friends, sponsors and team!”

TEAM PHOTO: A great experience to get to know one another, and one's self. Photo ISA

On his win, Antony had this to say - “It is difficult to win a gold medal. It takes building momentum throughout the contest, heat by heat, but only winning the last heat really counts and I was happy to keep my cool and lucky to win. Thanks to JP for pushing me with his high scores and healthy rivalry. Thank you to our team, our committee and our supporters - a major reason why we have two medals.”

Now that it is all over, two things really stand out. The magic that is adaptive surfing, and the people who make it happen. We will be bringing this back to South Africa and spreading it within the surfing world and beyond.

Thank you to San Diego, Stance, and to the ISA for putting on an event like no other, and to Surfing South Africa, Robin De Kock and Department of Sports and Recreation for their support. To all our other supporters, financial and other, we salute you and thank you for getting us here. We hope to have made you proud.