Keeping up with Adaptive Athlete Olly “Arctic Fox ” Vaughan Jones

The third stop of the AASP (Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals) Tour has recently finished, but several of the professional surfers have not returned home. The lure of Costa Rica surf breaks has mesmerized and drawn several of them to spend more time here. Olly “Arctic Fox” Vaughan Jones of Wales is one of those surfers. After finishing fourth in a the highly competitive Kneel division, the adaptive athlete decided to stay a while longer in Playa Jaco, just an hour or so south of the competition site of Boca Barranca.

Coined the High Fives Foundation Open Pro of Adaptive Surfing, surfers competing in the five-day contest enjoyed five days of sunny weather and mostly optimal waves. This was the second year that Costa Rica’s Association of Adaptive Surfing provided a platform for the AASP Tour initiated by Charles Webb, founder of Stoke for Life Foundation. Through the Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals, Webb oversees the Tour which began in June 2022 with two contests. Fast forward to 2024, there is now four stops on the tour. Consequently, the Boca Barranca contest attracted 65 athletes from 18 nations with its world class left surf break.

Getting Here from There

It is in Jaco in front of the Room2Board Hostel where I have the opportunity to surf some clean, open-faced waves with Olly.  Accordingly, he impresses me with his ability to get into the surf crawling to the shore from a hands and knees position. Unlike the contest atmosphere where help and a transfer chair into the ocean are readily available, this approach is hardcore and grassroots. The only assistance I provide is carrying his board and meeting him at the shore. Nonetheless, he tosses away rocks and branches on his way to get there.

Next, Olly needs to lay on his back as the incoming tide covers him and recedes. Timing is crucial here. Finally, arriving out among the breakers it doesn’t take long for the “Artic Fox” to start dropping in and “charging it.” Olly accomplishes well over a dozen waves in the nearly two-hour session. It was a classic day of Jaco surf, and I let him know he “scored.” I fetch his motorized wheelchair from Room2Board and meet him down the beach where he has already started the journey up the sand. Once back in the chair, we take a few minutes to just enjoy the ocean breeze while sipping on a couple of “agua de pipas” (coconut waters) we buy from a passing vendor.

Journey Forward and Back

Before a life-changing neurological disease affected him at the age of twenty-five in 2008, Olly was in his final year of school where he was studying to be a design engineer at Brunel University in London. He would spend the next ten years bed bound and in and out of hospitals. Additionally, he would often require round the clock support for routine activities like eating and drinking. His Mom was there for him, and Olly acknowledges his gratefulness for her love and support during that time.

The disease only took three weeks to render Olly bedridden. It affected his coordination and prevented his muscles from totally working properly. Consequently, he still experiences ongoing muscle contractions and fatigue, among other symptoms. The contractions are often ongoing throughout the night. he explains, and they can be quite painful.

Before 2008, Olly enjoyed surfing and also snowboarding. In fact, he worked for a time as a snowboard instructor.

Comeback Project Designing Adaptive Skis

Ironically, it was the desire to get back on the snow which led Olly to start sketching a design for adaptive ski equipment. In 2017, he began his comeback project to challenge himself technically as an engineer. Furthermore, he would spend the next two years doing artwork which helped “get my brain working,” to create the “sitski” design. He was able to construct a makeshift workshop next to his bed.

He started getting a lot of his design abilities back which consequently helped him with hand and eye coordination. Impressively, the British Army Adaptive Armed Forces (AFPST) who had been following the “Arctic Fox” a.k.a. Olly on social media, witnessed the first snow test of his “sitski” in Scotland. It handled turns and advanced slopes, including moguls, surpassing his own expectations. 

He is currently up to prototype five, the fine-tuning stage of the sitski design. In 2022 he caught Covid which set him back temporarily, causing a 20-30% increase of fatigue and making it harder to focus. 

Discovering Adaptive Surfing

It was in Tenerife in the Canary Islands in Spain where Olly paid a surf school to help get him in the water again in 2018.  A lot of people were involved, and it was expensive to do a session just so he could get himself on a board.

“It floored me. I found it almost impossible to paddle at that point. That was my first dip back into it. About 18 months later I moved my workshop to the coast in West Wales because I knew that would lure me into the waves. I found a beach that I knew from when I was a kid. Once I got in the water there, I rode prone on my own on some waves. I built up on that bit by bit.” Meanwhile, he has managed this lifestyle through living in an adaptive campervan equipped with electrical hook-ups, a ramp, USB, Wi-Fi and heat.

I got up to my knees in late 2021 and then on a visit to the wave pool in Bristol I met someone who asked me if I knew about competitive adaptive surfing. The guy said why don’t you work toward the English Adaptive Surfing Championships in 2022. And so, I did. That’s where I met Sponge (current World Champion Llywelyn Williams) for the first time. Everything kind of opened up after that.

Boca Barranca and the High Fives Foundation Open Pro

Since he began competing in Adaptive Surfing, Olly has done eight contests of the PSL (Para Surf League) in Europe. Ultimately, he made the podium five times, completing a full year of competition in 2023. Actually, the High Fives Open Pro contest in Boca Barranca is Olly’s first contest of the AASP Tour. As you can guess, he is excited to do more.

It was the longest ride in my life, but it’s also delicate. You really have to strike a balance as to where you put your turns – to stay in the power of the wave to make the next section. If you have options of a board, you’d pull out your higher volume one.

As far as how his life has changed since adaptive surfing, Olly says:

Adaptive Surfing is still changing me. I’m finding out about how I can push my disease in ways I haven’t before.

 What’s on Deck

Olly will be competing at the 2024 ABANCA PANTIN CLASSIC GALICIA PRO & PSL OPEN from Aug. 23-25th .  

After that comes the U.S. Open of Adaptive Surfing Championships, the fourth and final stop of the 2024 AASP. The much-anticipated event which attracted 96 athletes last year, will be held once again in Oceanside, California. There the “Arctic Fox” will surf against both friends and rivals, competing in the highly talented pool of professional adaptive surfers in his category. Some of these surfers include World Champion Llywelyn “Sponge” Williams, Mark “Mono” Stewart and Joshy Bogle.

As of the writing of this article, Olly is still exploring Jaco, maneuvering his way around the buzzing and eclectic surf city on Costa Rica’s Pacific Central Coast. Actually, it is home to many of the best National surfers. You may just catch a glimpse of the Arctic Fox if you happen to be in town. I dare you to keep up.

Thank you so much for all your time, Olly, your inspiring example and sharing some of your history. It was fun having a surf with you. Until next time -Pura Vida!

Keep up with adaptive athlete Olly “Arctic Fox” Vaughan Jones, follow him on his instagram account @arcticfoxadaptive  

Check out his website for eco-friendly clothing and adaptive equipment at ArcticFoxAdaptive.com. 

To learn more about the AASP Tour, contact the Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals. Learn more about Costa Rica’s Adaptive Surf Association here. 

Photos without Photo Credit are through the courtesy of Oliver “Olly” Vaughan Jones.