Surf Kelly Slater’s wave pool with Lukas Skinner

Lukas Skinner talks us through his unforgettable experience at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, hosted and sponsored by Red Bull.

So Sick! The Return of the Toxic Trophy

The legendary SAS X Toxic Trophy is back! In 1990 it represented a true coming together of the tribes in the fight against pollution.

Words Steve White

This weekend, Langland Board Riders (LBR) and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) team up once again to host the legendary Toxic Trophy at Langland Bay, Swansea.

The two-day event will see local and UK talent compete in individual and tag-team contests, expression sessions and heritage heats. There’ll be live music, food and retail stalls, and a sunset shindig – all you need for an epic surf social.

But the reason behind the Toxic Trophy is nothing to celebrate: the continually polluted state of our seas. Just last month, SAS issued 17 “do not swim” warnings on Welsh waterfronts due to storm sewage being discharged from sewer overflows. It’s part of “a national disgrace,” says SAS CEO, Giles Bristow, and few would argue.

“We are the canaries in the coal mine for the state of these beautiful ecosystems. People using the water for recreational activities are the voice of the ocean, shouting loud and clear about just how serious the pollution problem has become,” he adds.

The Toxic Trophy will put a bassline on this message, but the contest added volume to the Surfers Against Sewage movement when it started over thirty years ago. Rewind to 1990, when wave riders from Porthtowan, St. Agnes and Chapel Porth called a public meeting about sea pollution in north Cornwall. Over 200 people attended, and SAS quickly gained national traction, recalls SAS founder, Chris Hines.

In September of that year, Hines, Steve England and Gareth Kent travelled to Swansea Bay, where they discovered a “sea as close as you can get to poison.”

The Toxicity of Our City

BP Chemicals at Baglan, British Steel, and other industries around Port Talbot were the main culprits; they had consents to discharge that allowed them to dump a cocktail of chemicals and sewage into local waterways, turning Swansea Bay into a toxic soup.

The grim picture is captured in HTV’s Wales This Week: Carwyn Williams describes debilitating stomach pains, Guts Griffiths’ lymphatic system goes haywire, Claire Churne wins a thumb abscess, and Chris French’s infected, ballooning leg leads the doctor to ask if he’d been standing in a toilet, which in some ways, he had.

“At Langland and other spots, the outflow pipes were a major issue. You could see the sewage mixing with the water. At low tide, you’d come across a brown foam filled with contaminants. You couldn’t breathe through it, it was so thick. You’d see medical waste like needles and other horrible stuff in the water,” Frenchy remembers.

The SAS fightback went through the House of Commons, all the way to the European Parliament, but engagement was needed at grass roots. Out of the mire rose the Toxic Trophy.

“It was Langland in November – quite a hard contest in bleak conditions that fitted the toxic theme. It was all a bit grimy and dark, reflecting what was going on in our seas,” Hines says.

“Key figures in the Welsh surfing community, like Linda Sharp and Welsh Surfing Federation (WSF) chairman, Herbie (Huw John), played an instrumental role in supporting both campaigns – the Toxic Trophy and SAS,” Hines adds.

“The comp grew bigger as the years went by and it helped put Langland on the map. It was a really good scene, and not just about surfing; environmental awareness was central to the Toxic Trophy identity. It attracted global names like Dave Malherbe, Maurice Cole, Gary Elkington and Taylor Knox to Langland Bay,” says Frenchy, Toxic Trophy director through the ‘90s.

LBR’s Si ‘Slug’ Page and Sam Johnson are the organisers of this year’s Toxic Trophy, and both competed in the ‘original comps’ (as groms say).

“Carwyn Williams was the highest-ranked British surfer in Europe at the time; thanks to him and others, the first few contests were attended by some of Europe’s highest-rated surfers, giving home-grown talent a chance to compete against the best,” Slug and Sam explain.

“It wasn’t a ranking event for national team selection, so competitors could surf free of that pressure, which ultimately put the performance levels through the roof. Everyone wanted to win it,” they add.

This performance pedigree is evident today in Langland locals like English, British, and European champion, Alys Barton, and current highest-ranked Welsh surfer in Europe, Patrick Langdon-Dark. Both compete in the WSL’s Qualifying Series, representing Great Britain.

Most importantly, the Toxic Trophy brought surfing communities in Cornwall and south Wales together in a shared vision for cleaner seas. It became a symbol of unity, thanks in no small way to the founders of SAS who brought huge passion to their mission.

The event also helped to bring about meaningful change, with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water eventually abandoning long sea outfalls and shifting to UV disinfection as part of its sewage treatment policy. This early progress has contributed to Langland Bay’s achieving of excellent bathing water status for the past decade.

“Welsh Water was the starting point…with other companies like Wessex Water following suit,” Hines says.

But if the general picture improved through the 2000s, then standards have since slipped.

Shockingly, hospital admissions for waterborne diseases such as dysentery and Weil’s disease have rocketed by 60% since 2010 in England. In Wales last year, Welsh Water admitted to years of illegally spilling untreated sewage at dozens of treatment plants. The news followed the not-for-profit’s downgrading from four to two stars by regulator Natural Resources Wales due to a decline in performance. It’s events like this that have surfers in south Wales fearing a return to the water quality of the ‘90s, which we simply can’t allow.

So, what needs to happen?

“Investing in sewage infrastructure is crucial,” says Giles Bristow, and this is something that Welsh Water promise amid a raft of clean-up measures. In a statement, the company highlight that they will have invested “over 1.4 billion into our wastewater system” in the decade to 2025. But given their record, can the public trust that current targets will be met?

“We take our responsibility for protecting bathing waters seriously…Over the past 20 years, our investment has helped ensure that Wales’ amazing coastline is blessed with a quarter of the UK’s Blue Flag beaches despite having just 15% of its coastline.”

“We are proud that the latest Bathing Water results for Wales also showed that 98% of the designated bathing waters meet stringent quality standards – with almost three quarters of them meeting the highest ‘Excellent’ water quality standard,” Welsh water said.

Of course, accountability is fundamental. Giles Bristow calls for “much better monitoring and transparency on data so that we know the condition of our waters,” and acknowledges that Welsh Water were the first to provide SAS with higher resolution data so that the public can be alerted when bathing might pose health risks.

But if accountability is emerging at sea level, then there’s a long way to go for the C-suite: research released in May claimed that investors have withdrawn “£85.2bn from ten water and sewage firms in England and Wales since the industry was privatised 30 years ago,” – the same firms that want to increase customer bills by around 33% to fund improvements.

The government’s Water Special Measures Act will place more responsibility on directors, but “deeper cultural change is needed, so that companies stop prioritising profits over the environment and public health,” Bristow says.

Welsh Water is not privately owned, but in a 2024 Performance Report, Ofwat suggested the not-for-profit status creates an ‘accountability deficit’ that is a cause for concern. Welsh Government has since asked for clarity on how the firm awards bonuses to executives.

“As we have no shareholders, our independent Members provide the same vital governance role holding the Board to account. Unpaid and with a deep interest in the services we are here to provide, they come from a wide range of backgrounds with extensive and relevant knowledge and expertise and are appointed by an Independent Selection Panel,” Welsh Water said.

Trust and accountability will be essential to tackle broader environmental challenges. Urbanisation has increased water run-off entering our sewers, while climate change is causing more extreme weather, intensifying pressure on resources.

“We need nature-based solutions,” recommends Bristow, “restoring natural catchments, replanting coastal areas and introducing green infrastructure in urban areas to help absorb excess water and reduce pollution sustainably.”

Welsh Water say 2025-30 will see them “invest £4bn, including £2.5bn on environmental projects, subject to approval from Ofwat.”

“These projects include continuing to upgrade and future-proof our systems to better cope with the changing environment. This work has already begun with current investment projects including a green alternative to a storm overflow and more storm storage at numerous sites,” Welsh Water continue.

Plastic pollution and PFAs – ‘forever chemicals’ only add urgency to the need to clean up our act.

“These substances not only persist in the water, but also become aerosols, getting carried in ocean spray which surfers, swimmers and others may inhale. This risk wasn’t even understood before and it shows just how much we’ve still to learn about the harmful impacts of industrial chemicals,” Bristow explains.

This legacy is evident at the breaks around Port Talbot. The silty, estuarial environment doesn’t help water clarity, but when you’re sitting in the line-up, you’re not overwhelmed by a sense of marine life. Between sets, the water seems grateful for a lie down. The steel works leers over your shoulder, while out in the ale-dark sea, tankers patrol like crocodiles.

The Toxic Trophy is about reclaiming these waters from the polluters and laying down a statement that these beaches, waves and breaks belong to us, not the companies that are destroying them, wherever that may be in the UK.

“It’s a big, bold and brilliant event for us to show the world that these issues are really important. It draws attention to how these beautiful environments are being polluted and why it’s crucial that we take action,” Bristow says.

Watch all the action from the Toxic Trophy live this weekend here .

Running order

Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships

The world’s best longboarders now await the the one-day, World Surf League (WSL) Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships. The Top 8 men and Top 8 women will take on the right-hand point break of El Sunzal in El Salvador in the winner-take-all format that was introduced to the WSL Longboard Tour last season. The competition window for the one-day final opens on Wednesday, October 9, and runs through Sunday, October 13.
 


Following a groundbreaking event at the Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic, the competitors are seeded and ready to vie for their opportunity at World Title glory. Led by current No. 1’s Taylor Jensen (USA) and Soleil Errico (USA), they await who will reach the Title Match after contenders battle their way through world-class fields beginning with Match 1.

The Top 8 Men and Top 8 Women Prepare for the Pristine Point Break of El Sunzal
The 2023 Surf City El Salvador Longboard Classic culminated in incredible wins from Sophia Culhane (HAW below) and Kaniela Stewart (HAW above) at El Sunzal’s dreamy right-hand point break. The cobblestone break provides multiple sections for competitors to showcase their dynamic footwork, and ability on the nose. El Sunzal also tests stamina with the wave extending over one-minute rides in the El Salvadorian heat. El Sunzal favors a SSW, SW swell, and due to the point jutting out further from the coastline, it will receive much more swell than surrounding areas to keep it consistent.

The world’s best put on iconic performances in 2023 and now that the World Title is on the line at El Sunzal, fans can expect nothing but their top form.

The One Day Showdown Will Determine the 2024 WSL Longboard Champions
Similar to the 2023 Longboard Championships, the Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships will include the Top 8 competitors qualified for the World Title showdown. Match 1 will feature the No. 8, No. 7, and No. 6 seeded competitors with the winner of that match moving into Match 2. Similar to Match 1, Match 2 features a three-person heat, but only one will prevail to move into Match 3 against the No. 4 seeded competitor.

The winner of Match 3 then goes on to face the No. 3 seeded competitor before the victor will square off with World No. 2. Then, it all boils down to the best two-out-of-three Title Match against World No. 1 for the 2024 WSL Longboard Title.

Women’s Top 8 Qualifiers
1 – Soleil Errico (USA)
2 – Rachael Tilly (USA)
3 – Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
4 – Natsumi Taoka (JPN)
5 – Zoe Grospiron (FRA)
6 – Honolua Blomfield (HAW)
7 – Kelis Kaleopaa (HAW)
8 – Sophia Culhane (HAW)

Men’s Top 8 Qualifiers
1 – Taylor Jensen (USA)
2 – John Michael Van Hohenstein (HAW)
3 – Rogelio Jr Esquievel (PHL)
4 – Kai Sallas (HAW)
5 – Ben Skinner (GBR above)
6 – Kaniela Stewart (HAW)
7 – Steven Sawyer (RSA)
8 – Chase Lieder (USA)

Watch Live
The Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships is the final stop on the 2024 WSL Longboard Tour, where the Top 8 men and women will contest for the World Longboard Titles. The competition window opens on Wednesday, October 9, and runs through Sunday, October 13, 2024. The competition will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners.