Behind the Curtain
After decades of lobbying by International Surfing Association (ISA) President, Fernando Aguerre, on the 3rd of August 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that surfing would be included in the 2020 Summer Games.
The sport’s biggest drawcard for organisers of the games was that it brought a more youthful and vibrant sport to the Olympic program. And yes, the event will take place in the ocean in Chiba, Japan.
Surfing Australia was the first national surfing organisation to take major strides towards participation in Tokyo. Early moves indicating the seriousness of their quest included the appointment of former championship tour surfer, Bede Durbidge to the role of Surfing Australia’s Elite Program Manager. The appointment came while Bede was still competing full-time in August 2017, but the announcement became a precursor to his retirement from competition at the end of that year.
As the core support team and high-performance program was already in place, the new position galvanised the push towards 2020 and beyond.
To find out a little more, we sat down with some of the key members of Surfing Australia’s National High Performance Program to find out what they do, and more importantly what their roles are in preparing our surfers for their Olympic debut, across the areas of surfing, mind and body.
THE PROGRAM
So what does Surfing Australia and its National High Performance Program look like? Kim Crane, the National High Performance Director explains:
