A review of the year and my review of the Parasurfing World Championships in California

In 2025, I faced a challenging parasurfing season marked by a series of unfortunate events leading to a poor performance and then ultimately reclassification to a division I was unable to compete in at the World Championships in California. Despite starting the year with optimism, it turned out to be the worst year in parasurfing and nothing like I had dreamed.

I express massive gratitude to my sponsors and donors which enabled me to engage in international competition and training, with costs totalling over £6,000, including expenses for coaching, competitions, and travel.

DH EARTHWORKS | DEVON CONTRACTORS | C-SKINS WET SUITS | THE PLYM GROUP | PROGRESSIVE SYSTEMS and of course ADSURF in Bude.

February 2025… With exciting sponsors on board, I eagerly dove into kickstarting my season by attending the Parasurf League in Portugal in March. Although I hadn’t surfed since the previous November, Surfing England Coaches Andy and Jack graciously got me into the water for a bracing practice session on a chilly February afternoon at Saunton Sands. I covered the flights for Jack and my friend Lee, my trusty water support team, and set off on an adventure. Although we faced an unexpected storm that produced 10-12ft waves, the gale force winds made conditions challenging, with the officials’ tents blown into the water and painful sand whipping against us. While it was impossible to surf at the beach, the team organized an unofficial event up the coast in a sheltered spot. The waves may have been small, and we faced some biblical rain and hail (in Portugal!), but it was an unforgettable experience that tested our resilience. Despite the challenges and my placement in the unofficial final not being what I had hoped for, I viewed it as a valuable lesson learned and a opportunity to grow as a surfer, but a complete waste of money really!!

From there, I focused on wave pool training and made the trip to Bristol once or twice a week, knowing the upcoming English Open competition would take place at the wave pool. After taking my daughter Cami on her first holiday abroad to Turkey in April with a friend and his kids, I fully committed to the wave pool. Unlike sea surfing, I recognized my potential to excel here with a new board to use, consistent training, and growing experience. Unfortunately, bad luck struck when the wave pool dramatically shut down, and its reopening was uncertain. However, the new management quickly assembled their team and managed to open it for our event, although this led to valuable training sessions being cancelled. Despite this setback, I reflected on my performance, as my blog mentions: I finished 4th out of 5 on day one and improved to 2nd out of 5 on day two, although my scores on the first day were too low to move up further. On day two, I performed brilliantly on the waves (for my standards) and was only outscored by the British Number 1. https://jamesakprice.com/2025/07/07/2025-para-surfing-championships-my-rollercoaster-experience/

The Surfing England Team faced uncertainty with no commitment from the ISA regarding the European Championships or world championships. I was excited to return to the sea and train with the Adsurf crew in Bude, but training focus was lacking. With weeks to spare, the Europeans were announced, and I was stoked to represent England in Spain for the first time. Speculation about the venue arose due to consistently tiny waves. I was informed I needed to be reclassified, but this was later changed to the world championships to avoid stress on competition day, a decision that had repercussions later. Unfortunately, despite training hard, the forecast was right—the waves were disappointing. This area is known for small waves during summer and autumn, and we faced delay after delay with tiny waves when heats eventually ran. While Team England secured an impressive 3rd place, I felt I couldn’t perform due to my lack of trunk, which hindered my ability to maneuver quickly compared to other competitors. More details can be found in my earlier blog: https://jamesakprice.com/2025/11/01/european-parasurfing-championships-team-england-3rd-place/

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW: ISA announced the world championships right after confirming the European Championships. I had exhausted my sponsorship for 2025 but decided to take the plunge; Surfing England committed their resources to the Euros, making this an unofficial official event. I’d be representing England with some teammates but needed my own water support. Luckily, I could stay with a teammate who lived in Oceanside, California. It was an honour to ask younger coach Ryan Trott to be my water support while at the Europeans. Although I have travelled to California many times, it was exciting to see Ryan’s joy for this adventure! This trip turned into a ‘never never’ Barclaycard situation due to exhausted sponsorship. After booking our flights for £1100, I was told I must arrive two days earlier for classification or risk not competing. I had to rebook my flight and car hire for an extra £300, leaving Ryan to fly alone while I drove back up to LAX to pick him up when he arrived.

With car hire and flights I was already in the hole £2k on the credit card so, when I went into classification I had a horrible feeling it was going to go wrong for me as the year had so far, I could just tell from the second I got in there. Sure enough, the assessment was completed and I was told I should be competing in the more able prone 1 division, not prone 2. The difference essentially being I can’t have any help catching a wave, technically should not have water support at all but the rules were changed to allow support onto my board, and through the waves, but to let go of me when out the back and in clear water. I have no control of my body below the chest, no trunk, weak hands and all the other stuff that goes with being quadriplegic spinal injury however because I am strong, and maximise what I have in the gym, it seems my lust for being the best I can physically be went against me, or that is how it feels. I faced a horrible situation, compete and be humiliated because I could not stay on a board, or withdraw.

I spent a couple of days trying to compete but felt it was impossible, so I decided to withdraw. It was heart-breaking, but I found peace in my decision, especially since the Team Manager of Surfing England filed an official appeal regarding my classification. After not competing in my first heat, I was told by the event organizer that my protest wouldn’t be valid since I had withdrawn. This left me feeling devastated. Despite struggling for three days, I was fortunate to be with Spike and his friends, who lent me a big green float board for beginners that couldn’t sink. I kept falling off due to my impairment, but after adding swimming noodles to the board, it helped keep me steady. Eventually, Spike ordered me webbed gloves, which improved my balance while paddling. I practiced in the inner harbour away from the waves, and gradually, I began to believe I could catch a wave.

The head coach was adamant that I just needed to be shoved into the white water to ride a broken wave in, but every practice session felt like torture as he insisted on playing in the turbulent mess. I found it incredibly difficult to stay on the board amidst all that chaos. So, I turned to Ryan, my water support, and said, “We’re at the world championships; I’m not going to insult the guys in the prone 1 division who ride the big waves or embarrass myself. We’re doing our own thing—go big or go home.” The next morning, I dragged Ryan out of bed at 5 a.m. to get down to the beach by 6, just the two of us, in hopes of practicing catching an actual wave. This was a big deal for me since I’d never been in the sea without two support guys—one with me in the waves and another on the beach ready to catch me. The rip current is notoriously dangerous by the pier, but we were determined to catch an unbroken wave, diving into what was supposed to be proper surfing. Without the head coach’s pressure to ride those white water waves, we ventured into deeper waters, aiming for something better. We stayed close to the shore, avoiding interference with the top guys who were after the big waves. As Ryan let me go, I tried my best to paddle in, but due to my physical impairment, I couldn’t look up to see the wave or my position; I simply had to trust Ryan, who was swimming nearby, to count me down. I’d paddle with all my might, but it was all a gamble; at the last moment, I had to stop paddling, get my elbows on the board, and lift my head into my usual surfing position. We missed a few, but somehow, I caught an unbroken wave and rode it in. I couldn’t believe it—I went from feeling completely out of my depth to actually thinking I might pull this off, even when I had no real business out there in those dangerous conditions as a novice.

I decided to take a little time out and sat in the car to rest my eyes and escape the cacophony, and while I was thankful I could crash at Spike’s, a week on the couch combined with the stress really messed with my back, my sanity, and my sleep – which, let’s be honest, was non-existent. Then, as if the universe was really trying to give me a cosmic wedgie, the wind picked up, the waves turned into white walls of savagery, and the rip current was so fierce I half-expected it to start demanding bank statements. Gone were the glassy waves from 6 a.m. that I managed to ride – those were heavenly compared to the ‘water hell’ I was facing now. So here I was, trying to master surfing like a pro while barely clinging onto my board in conditions that made surfing in a blender look safe. They even called off the competition after my heat, which was pretty telling! That week? Total disaster. Ryan put in the effort of a lifetime to tow me past the waves, while my teammates on the pier were barking out warnings like confused seals as the waves just kept crashing like a drunk guy at a wedding. I finally made my way out past the pier and decided to rely on that trusty wind to bring me back, hoping a wave would be nice enough to show up. I did manage to hang onto my board when a rogue wave decided to treat me like a piñata and score a point – which was like winning the lottery in the world of surfing for me! But poor Ryan? He was so worn out from all my flailing around that he freaked out afterwards. Honestly, it was like a scene from a surf-themed horror movie!

And after all that… the classifiers took one look at the circus that was my attempt and decided to bless me with a grand total of 1 star! So here I am, still not fully classified, staring down the barrel of a remix: the prone 1 division! That means I’ll be battling it out with the cunning prone 1 surfers in England just to snag a spot. It’s been a year of surfing luck that could only be described as a slapstick comedy—ending with me being just as clueless as when I started. But hey, what I’ve learned is that I need to master the ancient art of paddling, catch a wave, invest in a board that doesn’t have a vendetta against me, and hit the reset button like a champ!

I never give up and, boy, do I play the cards I’m dealt like a poker champion with a bad hand! But let me tell you, this is physically my toughest gig yet. My coach at Adsurf is basically my personal cheerleader, backing me up no matter what crazy decision I make. Cyril and the team? They’re a bunch of legends—I love them to bits! Surfing is my jam, and if there’s any silver lining to that giant money pit on my credit card, it’s that Ryan whisked me away one afternoon for a sunset surf session in California. I felt like a royal mermaid, utterly privileged and slightly humbled (not to mention the envy of all my non-surfing friends!). My awesome teammates and I managed to hang on to our 7th position in the world from last year, and I’m thankful for the chance to represent my country. Here’s to 2026!!! Buckle up because this ride is going to be wild, but honestly, I’ve always found that the best parts are often in the ridiculous detours, not the finish line!

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