Team France Photo: Pablo Franco
The ninth edition of the 2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship (WPSC) has come to a close after a massive day of action in ideal conditions at Huntington Beach. Fourteen World Champions were crowned, joining the four victors from yesterday, on an extremely competitive Finals Day that saw performance levels heightened like never before.
France claimed their second consecutive Team World Championship over the USA in a tight battle that has played out across three years. The winning nation took home a total of 10 medals: two each of Gold, Silver and Bronze, along with four Copper. Australia, fielding their strongest team in many years, claimed their first Team Medal since 2017 with Bronze. After missing out on the podium last year, 2020 Team World Champion Spain matched their 2022 performance to claim Copper.
Charlotte Banfield (ENG) took Gold Photo: Pablo Franco
Charlotte Banfield (ENG), Freddy Marimon (COL), and Jocelyn Neumueller (AUS) each claimed their second World Titles. It was back-to-back victories for Banfield, while Marimon and Neumueller returned to the top after many years.
Marimon’s victory was especially sweet, having dedicated himself to learning a different technique than the one that brought him so much success in his younger years, including the 2018 World Title at the age of 13. Now 19, Marimon has improved year-on-year in his new approach, a style that his biggest rival Davi Teixeira (BRA) was able to adapt to much quicker.
Teixeira has been dominant across the past two years, and seemed destined to continue his streak today. Marimon had other plans however, opening with a 9.00. Teixeira found an 8.80 of his own and took the lead late in the heat. But Marimon was directly behind, adding in a 7.93, enough to finally earn his second Gold Medal. The Colombian’s 16.93 heat total locked in just 0.30 ahead of the Brazilian’s 16.63.
“We fought for a whole year,” Marimon said. “A year of dedication, of sacrifice, of leaving things behind for this victory, because I wanted it. It was a year where many doors were closed, but God opened others, which gave me the advantage in this heat. Davi and I have been friends since we were very young and we have a very similar style of surfing. After we changed categories, the level started out even, then he went up. I pushed myself and now we are even.”
Marta Paço, Team Portugal Photo: Pablo Franco
Five multiple-time World Champions extended dominance of their divisions today. Alelí Medina (PUR), Elias Ricardo Diel (BRA), and Llywelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL) each won their third Gold Medals. Medina’s third win in-a-row has her tied for victories with Melissa Reid (ENG) in the women’s Visual Impairment (VI) 2 category.
Llwelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL) took Gold Photo: Sean Evans
Victoria Feige (CAN) set the bar in 2022 by becoming the first woman to win four Gold Medals in Para Surfing – a record she has since extended to five. Now, Marta Paço (POR) and Sarah Bettencourt (USA) have joined the elite by each claiming their fourth Gold Medals. Like Feige before them, both Paço and Bettencourt have expressed that watching the rising performance levels and growing strength of women’s Para Surfing competition means even more than their historic medal achievements.
“I just can’t can’t believe I’m a four-time World Champion,” Paço said. “It sounds crazy to me, but I’m so happy. I did my surfing and it worked out. As long as it gives me joy, that’s what I want to do, I want to be here. My goal is not to just get the medal, but also to surf better, surf better waves, show people what I can do.”
Audrey Pascual, Team Spain Photo: Sean Evans
Six divisions saw new World Champions crowned. Pierot Gagliano (FRA), Zoe Smith (ENG), Luciano Silveira (BRA), Audrey Pascual (ESP), Kai Colless(AUS) and JP Veaudry (RSA) each won their first Gold Medals.
For Gagliano, Smith, Veaudry, and Pascual, the victories were long-awaited, while Silveira took the Stand 3 division by storm in his very first event and Colless earned the win in his second attempt. Silveira posted one of the highest heat totals of the competition, a near perfect 18.66 two-wave heat total that included a massive 9.83 single wave score.
Colless was locked in a tight battle with his teammate, defending World Champion Joel Taylor (AUS) all event, continuing a rivalry that began last year. It all came down to the wire, with both surfers waiting on the sand for scores, but it was the younger of the pair, Colless, who ended up victorious, on the back of a 16.76 heat total, to Taylor’s 15.64.
In her fifth Final, Pascual was finally able to get her breakthrough win in a competitive heat that included newcomer Erin Koffel (USA), 2023 Silver Medalist Vera Quaresma (BRA), and two-time World Champion Emma Dieters (AUS), who was recently reclassified into the division. Pascual and Dieters both started with strong rides in the 5-point range, but it was Pascual’s second ride, a 7.83 that gave her a solid lead to carry through to her long-awaited victory.
“We were all hoping for the waves to pick up a bit so we could show our surfing,” Pascual said. “We ended up having so much fun in the water. We all caught great waves and I’m so happy it turned out that way.”
Zoe Smith (ENG) took Gold Photo: Sean Evans
ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:
“What an amazing ISA World Para Surfing Championship, held and presented by Surf City Huntington Beach. It was incredible days, great waves. I remember at our very first Adaptive Surfing World Championships, which was the original name, one of the competitors was asked about their hope for the event. Their answer was simple: ‘I hope to bring home hope.’ And that’s what we all bring. We hope that you take hope home.
“We will continue our paddle for Paralympic Surfing. We will continue our paddle for a better world through surfing and para surfing, and we will continue to support this amazing community. Congratulations to every one of you. Thank you to Visit Huntington Beach and big, big thank you to all the volunteers and the staff of the ISA for making this event an amazing history-making event.”
RESULTS
Team
Gold – France
Silver – USA
Bronze – Australia
Copper – Spain
Women’s Prone 1
Gold – Sarah Bettencourt (USA)
Silver – Paloma Onate (ESP)
Bronze – Jonne Moleman (NED)
Copper – Suzanne Edwards (ENG)
Men’s Prone 1
Gold – Kai Colless (AUS)
Silver – Joel Taylor (AUS)
Bronze – Cleuson Araujo (BRA)
Copper – Casey Proud (HAW)
Women’s Kneel / Upright
Gold – Audrey Pascual (ESP)
Silver – Vera Quaresma (BRA)
Bronze – Emma Dieters (AUS)
Copper – Erin Koffel (USA)
Men’s Kneel / Upright
Gold – Llywelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL)
Silver – Dariel Melendez (CRC)
Bronze – Altair Olivares (CHI)
Copper – Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart (AUS)
Women’s Prone 2
Gold – Jocelyn Neumueller (AUS)
Silver – Sarah Almagro (ESP)
Bronze – Georgina Melatini (ARG)
Copper – Beatrice Duran (FRA)
Men’s Prone 2
Gold – Freddy Marimon (COL)
Silver – Davi Teixeira (BRA)
Bronze – Cliff Gralton (AUS)
Copper – Jose Martinez (USA)
Women’s Stand 3
Gold – Charlotte Banfield (ENG)
Silver – Mireia Cabanes (ESP)
Bronze – Stella Papetti (ITA)
Copper – Ursula Pueyo (ESP)
Men’s Stand 3
Gold – Luciano Silveira (BRA)
Silver – Colin Cook (HAW)
Bronze – Eric Dargent (FRA)
Copper – Naomichi Katsukura (JPN)
Women’s Stand 2
Gold – Zoe Smith (ENG)
Men’s Stand 2
Gold – JP Veaudry (RSA)
Silver – Forrest Weinberg (USA)
Bronze – Nachman Balulu (ISR)
Copper – Philippe Naud (FRA)
Women’s VI 1
Gold – Marta Paço (POR)
Silver – Valentine Moskoteoc (FRA)
Bronze – Carmen Lopez (ESP)
Copper – Juliette Mas (FRA)
Men’s VI 1
Gold – Elias Ricardo Diel (BRA)
Silver – Thomas Da Silva (FRA)
Bronze – Ben Neumann (GER)
Copper – Kirk Watson (AUS)
Women’s VI 2
Gold – Alelí Medina (PUR)
Silver – Ling Pai (CAN)
Bronze – Heloise Lauriol (FRA)
Copper – Lou Mechiche (FRA)
Men’s VI 2
Gold – Pierot Gagliano (FRA)
Silver – Roy Calderon (CRC)
Bronze – Luis Medina (CHI)
Copper – Matt Formston (AUS)
