2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship Celebrated with Spectacular Performances, Great Waves and Camaraderie

The 2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship is a wrap and if you missed it live hopefully you were fortunate enough to catch it online. The event was nothing short of breathtaking to behold, with perfect waves over the five days of competition. Hosting for the second year in a row, Surf City USA a.k.a Huntington Beach served up dreamy conditions for the nearly 150 athletes. Twenty-five national teams represented in nine different categories for both men and women. Women made up over a third of all the athletes which is the largest percentage to date.

The Championship crowned ten new World Champions while several defending champions managed to hold on to their titles. If you don’t think that alone made for nail biting, breath-taking heats, then maybe factor in the ideal conditions of mostly 3–4-foot waves pumping in. You couldn’t ask for a better platform to display your skills and talent, and the athletes did not disappoint. Following is just a few of the many highlights from the Final days.

Ten New World Champions Crowned

Between the fifth and sixth days combined, ten new world champions were crowned at this year’s Championship. While some defending champions were notably absent this year, several that were present were upset by rivals either before or during the finals. Everyone was bringing their game to each heat of the nine Para Surfing categories, both men and women.

Waveski/Women’s Sit Crowns New Champion

If you know who Alana Nichols is, then you may know she is a two-time Paralympic Gold Medalist in two different sports. She was a member of the gold medal U.S.A Wheelchair Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. Next, Alana went on to win the individual gold in the Giant Slalom Ski racing event in the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver. In fact, she is the first American female to win a gold medal in both the summer and winter Games.

Alana previously won the Gold at the last three ISA World Para Championships and therefore came into this year as the defending champion. It’s no surprise she competes in Wave ski category which is officially known as Sit, although you hardly keep still. Nichols uses her overall athletic ability and finesse to dominate the waves with a combination of paddling and maneuvers.

This year the competition in Women’s Sit heated up when U.S.A. teammate Cass Eckroth, whom Nichols has coached and mentored, stepped up the game. The two went head-to-head for the whole heat but Cass was able to score a higher point bigger wave at the end. However, Nichols fought back, putting together multiple turns and even shooting the pier, just coming up short of the score she needed. Teammate Eckroth came away with the new World Champion title, her first to date.

“It’s just so incredible,” Eckroth said. “It was such an amazing surf session; the conditions out there are just awesome. Alana is my biggest mentor. She got me into wave skiing.”

Kai Colless Crowned New Men’s Prone 1 World Champion

There was no shortage of spectacular performances turned in by the under 20 crowd, male and females included. Kai Colless should know. The 19-year-old who just recently graduated from high school, earned his first World Championship title in Men’s Prone 1. Colless beat out fellow Aussie surfer Joel Tyler in a final that came down to wire. The teammates repeated their debut performances from 2023.

Last year Tyler earned the gold, with Colless taking the fourth-place copper medal. In another of the day’s upsets, it was Colless who would emerge as the new champion. While waiting for his scores, Kai sat at the shoreline watching the ocean. When the news reached him that he had won, he fell on his back just lying on the sandy beach to soak it in.

Let’s hear it for the girls

For the younger females, it was Puerto Rico’s Aleli Medina, who won the Vision 2 World Championship title. Medina, who has competed against the V2 guys on the AASP Tour for lack of other female competitors, surely appreciated the competition in the ISA WPSC. Medina was still 14 when we chatted last August and remains one of the youngest competitors. This was Aleli’s third straight gold medal in the Worlds.

In Vision 1, it was nineteen-year-old Marta Paco of Team Portugal that scored her fourth World title.

“My goal is not to just get the medal, but also to surf better, surf better waves, show people what I can do,”Paco said. 

Jose Martinez Team USA “All gas no breaks” 

Team U.S.A.’s Jose Martinez is always a pleasure to watch for his skillful maneuvers and sheer stoke of the sport. Martinez hard charged all week with his “all gas no breaks” mentality; it was no surprise to see him in the final of Prone 2. Prone 2 is made up of a team of three and truly represents the unity that shines in the sport. Martinez scored an 8.5 on a long right which opened up the opportunity for plenty of turns during the semifinal heat. 

“It’s just so much fun out there,” Martinez said. “The conditions are pretty perfect.” 

Davi Teixeira (BRA) and Freddy Marimon (COL) also surfed their way into the final, but it was Freddy Marimon who would come away with the win. 

“Sponge” Williams gets the Gold in new Kneel Category

It is always a treat to see Llewelyn Williams surf and he exudes great vibes and stoke at competitions. This year was no exception. The ISA changed up the category this year, however, by putting some former Stand 3 competitors and Kneel athletes in the same category. According to the new ISA classification “Any surfer who rides a wave in a kneeling, squatting, or sitting without paddle position with an above the knee amputation or both lower limb amputation or congenital or impairment equivalent” your Para Surfing Classification and category is now Kneel.

Says Costa Rica’s Dariel Melendez “This has me thinking of all those things that I have to improve, that I have to push. And yeah, I feel like this is better for the sport, we’re going to have more people and hopefully make it for the Paralympics.”

Williams put together a string of impressive waves to capture the win in a final among outstanding peers we have come to admire: Dariel Melendez (CR) Altair Olivares (CHI) and Mark “Mono” Stewart (AUS). One of his best exhibits was a left wave that barreled up nicely. Sponge didn’t hesitate to get into it and emerged unscathed on the other side to continue the ride.

France defends their Team World Title and new World Champions crowned

Team France won the Gold at the 2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship for second year in a row, followed by Team USA, Team Australia and Team Spain.

Six new World Champions were crowned on Finals Day.

Pierot Gagliano (FRA), Zoe Smith (ENG), Luciano Silveira (BRA), Audrey Pascual (ESP), Kai Colless (AUS) and JP Veaudry (RSA) Erin Koffel (USA), 2023 Silver Medalist Vera Quaresma (BRA), and two-time World Champion Emma Dieters (AUS), who was recently reclassified into the division.

Other highlights of the ISA WPSC include Charlotte Banfield (ENG), Freddy Marimon (COL), and Jocelyn Neumueller (AUS) each claiming their second World Titles. It was back-to-back victories for Banfield, while Marimon and Neumueller returned to the top after many years.

Sarah Bettencourt of Team USA has joined the elite by winning her fourth gold medal in Prone 1. When interviewed post final, Bettencourt gave a shout out to the ISA community, Huntington, all the athletes, volunteers, and sponsors. “It’s not about me, it’s about everyone who’s helped all of us to get here.”

Congratulations to all the athletes that competed in the 2024 World Para Surfing Championship. You amaze, inspire, and encourage more people than you will ever know. Godspeed. Thank you to the International Surfing Association and its community of athletes and volunteers who work together to put on such an excellent competition in a perfectly suitable venue.

“We will continue our paddle for Paralympic Surfing. We will continue our paddle for a better world through surfing and para surfing.”

  – Fernando Aguerre, President, International Surfing Association

Please click here to see all Finals results of the 2024 World Para Surfing Championship. 

All photos courtesy of ISA Press. Athlete quotes source: ISA press and media coverage.