109 athletes from 26 nations to inaugurate the event at Opening Ceremony on Wednesday
The 2017 Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship presented by Vissla and the City of San Diego has established a new record for athlete and country participation, setting the scene for another historic edition of the event.
109 athletes hailing from 26 nations have gathered in La Jolla, California to compete in the World Championship, shattering the record of 77 athletes from 21 countries that was set in 2016 and representative of the global increase in participation of the sport that has been led by the ISA.
To see the full list of nations competing, click here.
On Wednesday, November 29th the traditional Opening Ceremony will inaugurate the competition that is set to run through December 3rd at La Jolla Shores beach in California. The competitors will participate in the Parade of Nations and the Sands of the World Ceremony, where a representative from each nation will pour sand into a container to symbolize the peaceful gathering of nations through Adaptive Surfing.
Prior to the Opening Ceremony, the ISA will put on the Stance ISA Adaptive Surfing Clinic presented by Challenged Athletes Foundation with the aim of fostering the future development of the sport and encouraging athletes with physical challenges to discover the healing powers of Adaptive Surfing (also known as Para Surfing). 31 athletes of varying skill levels, half of which are women, will participate in the clinic and receive expert instruction from the world’s best Para Surfing athletes and instructors.
A large part of the growth seen by the 2017 edition of the event is due to the ISA’s push for gender equality in the sport. After seven women from five countries competed in 2016, 20 women from ten countries are set to compete in 2017. The three-fold increase in women participation has allowed the first women divisions to be part of the event program in five of the six divisions, set to crown the first-ever women World Champions in the sport.
In addition to the events to be held on Wednesday, the ISA held an Adaptive Surfing Symposium on Tuesday to gather the athletes and leaders of the sport to advance recent developments in Para Surfing, specifically the ISA’s vision and path towards Para Surfing’s inclusion in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, said:
“The level of growth that Para Surfing has experienced in just three short years since the inception of the Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship is incredible. We’ve watched the sport spread to new corners of the globe and enrich the lives of athletes from all walks of life.
“Para Surfing embodies high performance and youthful values that would bring great value to the Paralympic Games. These values will be fully on display this week as the world’s best athletes take to the water and we will do everything in our power to see that the sport be part of the program for Paris 2024.”
The schedule for the World Championship is as follows (Pacific Standard Time):
- November 29: Stance ISA Adaptive Surfing Clinic presented by CAF 9am – 1pm at La Jolla Shores; Opening Ceremony 2pm – 4pm at Kellogg Park (La Jolla Shores)
- November 30 – December 3: Competition 8am-4:30pm at La Jolla Shores beach
Watch the event live November 29 – December 3 on www.isaworlds.com.
