HONOLULU — AccesSurf kicked off its first-ever Adaptive Surfing World Tour in Waikiki, as part of their annual Hawaii Adaptive Surf Championships.

This year, the HASC competition was in partnership with the Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals, consisting of 100 athletes from 17 countries competing in 18 qualifying divisions.

AccesSurf is a local nonprofit organization, that provides free ocean and watersport programs for individuals with disabilities. They host monthly community programs throughout the year in Hawaii.

The organization launched its competitive adaptive surf competition in 2007, holding events as part of Duke’s OceanFest. Adaptive surfing is modified surfing using different styles and equipment for those with disabilities. The event gained popularity and grew into a standalone international surf competition in 2019.

This year’s event was the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Festivities began on Tuesday, June 7 with a beach clean-up in partnership with 4Ocean at Kuhio Beach. The clean-up was followed by a welcoming ceremony near the Duke Kahanamoku Statue. Competition heats began the following day and continued until Saturday, June 11.

The 2022 HASC was the opening stop to the first-ever Adaptive Surfing Professionals World Championship Tour.

“For us in Hawaii, we’re the event people want to come to and a big part of that is because of the aloha that the athletes and their families receive,” said AccesSurf Executive Director Cara Short. “I want to thank the community for being so supportive.”

“It’s always special because it’s Hawaii and Hawaii is all about aloha,” said adaptive surfer Meira Nelson. “Especially in adaptive surfing, competition happens in the water but as soon as you get out of the water, it’s like having a big family.”

Nelson finished fourth in the woman’s any knee kneeling event and won first in the women’s wave ski in this year’s HASC.

At first, Nelson did not know she won the competition. The HASC score the event using the athlete’s top waves from both days of heats.

“I did poorly because there were not a lot of waves coming our way, so I was accepting that I got second,” Nelson explained. “I was thrilled because it’s the first win of the tour. That made the whole week worth it.”

Wave ski is a form of adaptive surfing where the athlete is seated on the board, using their body and a paddle to maneuver.

“It’s always an honor to share the 20-minute heat with other wave skier women and it’s always a pleasure to surf with them,” said Nelson.   

According to Short, AccesSurf strives to show others the beauty of Hawaii and the sense of community both the state and adaptive surfing have to offer.

“This is a competitive sport and these are elite athletes, but it is still a deep, deep sense of community,” said Short.

“What we do as adaptive surfers can inspire others to get up, get out, reach out to your community, that’s why we do what we do,” said Nelson.

The ASP tour will continue with the US Open Surfing Championships in Oceanside, California from Sept. 8-11.