Cornish surfers compete in English Adaptive Surfing Open 2021

  • Watch Caron Bell's report

Surfers from Cornwall have competed in the English Adaptive Surfing Open 2021.

The competition took place on Thursday (8 July) at The Wave near Bristol.

Organisers Surfing England hope that the competition could help the campaign to get adaptive surfing into the Paralympics.

This was the fourth time national and international surfers came together for the English Open.

Peg Bennett, an adaptive surfer from Cornwall, said: "It's exploded over the past four or five years. It's been amazing. I spent many years trying to find other 'disabled' or adaptive surfers. And I just couldn't. But now, the whole adaptive scene is getting bigger and bigger."

The competition took place all day on Thursday 8 July. Credit: ITV West Country

Surfing will be an Olympic sport for the first time in Tokyo this summer. However, it will not be in the Paralympics.

Surfing England has to convince the Paralympics Committee that adaptive surfing can meet its strict criteria.

Nick Hounsfield, Chairman of Surfing England, said: "Some people have to sit. Some people can stand and be blind.

"So actually the categorisation is very very complicated. I think that's probably the biggest hurdle to overcome."

The hope is that after the success of this English Open, momentum will grow and adaptive surfing could be in the 2023 Paralympic Games.