Next week the BrightSky Australian Pro Adaptive Surfing Championships will fire up for the first leg of the AASP World Tour, bringing elite adaptive surfers from around the world and across Australia to Byron Bay shores for a week of competition, celebration and community.
A key focus of this year’s event is athlete classification. Returning from the United States is renowned adaptive sports classifier Dr Mo Johnson, who will once again oversee the classification process for competing athletes.
Training options
In an important step for the future of adaptive sport in Australia, Dr Johnson will also train Australian physiotherapists and occupational therapists to become certified classifiers.
The initiative is designed to strengthen Australia’s capacity in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games bid, helping support the growing push for adaptive surfing on the global stage.
Fun begins
Festivities begin this Sunday, March 22, with the much-anticipated Parade of Nations, a vibrant street procession celebrating the event coming to Byron Bay, the international surfing athletes and the community behind the event.
Starting at 3.30pm, the parade will be led by a local Japanese drumming group and feature athletes from competing nations alongside their assistants and event volunteers.
The procession will begin at the Jonson Street roundabout, travel around the corner past the Beach Hotel, then continue east along Bay Street to the main event site.
Upon arrival, athletes and spectators will be welcomed by the local Bundjalung people with a traditional smoking ceremony and didgeridoo performance, marking a powerful cultural opening to the week’s celebrations.
Following the welcome speeches, entertainment will continue with a performance from Australia’s only blind DJ, known as Galleon, beginning at 5.30pm. Galleon is one of the country’s most exciting DJs, a Brisbane-based house and disco specialist known for his encyclopaedic music knowledge, technical skill and ability to read a crowd.
Join the fun
Families are encouraged to come along, bring the kids and enjoy the afternoon spectacle while celebrating the athletes and community that make the event possible.
The competitive action begins early Monday morning when the Buildcare Australian Parasurfing Titles kicks off the first division of competition at 8am.
The championships will run throughout the week, culminating in the finals on Sunday, March 29, when the world’s best adaptive surfers will battle it out for the first major titles of the tour.
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