USA Para Surfers Prepare to Defend ISA World Champion Title

(Pismo Beach, Calif.) -- USA Surfing’s Para Surf team is headed to Pismo Beach, Calif. to defend their team Gold Medal at the 2022 International Surfing Association’s (ISA) World Para Surfing Championship event Dec. 4-11 (see details below). 
 
Team USA returns to ISA competition with the strongest performances and results World Para Surfing history with a record nine American para surfers coming home with medals in 2021. The team was led by three Gold Medal performances from triple amputee Jose Martinez from Apple Valley, Calif. in the Prone 2 division, Liv Stone of Oceanside in Stand 1, and Sarah Bettencourt from San Diego in Prone 1. Liv and Sarah are two-time world champs, winning individual Gold Medals in 2020 and 2021.
 
Jesse Billauer of Pacific Palisades, Calif. is a consistent powerhouse with three world title to his name, winning the Silver Medal in Prone 2 in 2021. Texas teammate Barbie Pacheco of Valley Mills, Texas won Bronze Medal in Visually Impaired 1.
 
Alana Nichols of Reno, Nev. and Katherine Beattie, Los Angeles, won Copper Medals — in Open Sit and Prone 1 respectively. These surf athletes continue to push their performances, training hard all year, working on their fitness, mobility, nutrition, wave reading skills and equipment. 

There is a strong push for para surfing to make the sport’s Paralympic debut in the LA 2028 Olympic Games, where USA Surfing's para surf athletes would shine and receive much-deserved worldwide recognition.  
 
“I’m always proud to be a veteran, but this is on the ultimate level,” said Prone 2 Gold Medalist Jose Martinez. “To represent my country for a new sport that’s coming out, that I see as absolutely epic and is going to be so meaningful for the rest of the world, not just for us. I am grateful and I am honored.”
 
“I’m blown away by the level of skill by all female para surfers, we’ve all stepped it up to bring intense, suspenseful, crowd-roaring surf competition to the world,” said Prone 1 Gold Medalist Sarah Bettencourt.
 
See more details and full team roster below. 
 
WHAT
140-plus para surf athletes representing more than 25 countries will compete for world titles and individual medals in multiple adaptive surf categories. The athletes and their support teams have been putting in intense training hours and are fine-tuning their equipment to deliver peak performances.
 
WHEN
December 4–11, 2022
 
HOW TO WATCH & SUPPORT
You can cheer on the team at Pismo Beach pier or online at isasurf.org. You can also follow USA Surfing’s Instagram account for posts and stories. 
 
Training to compete at such an elite level against the world’s best requires high-performance resources and support, including coaching, training, nutrition, physical therapy, customized equipment, travel and accommodations. Please consider donating to the team at https://www.usasurfing.org/para-surf-team.html
 
WHO
The following para surf athletes will represent the United States in the divisions listed below. For full bios, go to: https://www.usasurfing.org/para-surf-team.html
 
Para Surf Stand 1
Liv Stone, Oceanside, Calif. 
Faith Lennox, Maui, Hawaii
 
Para Surf Stand 2
Forrest Weinberg, Long Beach, Calif. 
 Dana Cummings, Atascadero, Calif.

​Para Surf Stand 3
Ty Duckett, Los Angeles, Calif. 
  
Para Surf Kneel
Aaron Loy, San Diego, Calif. 
Michelle Eastman, Orange County, Calif. 
 
Para Surf Sit
Alana Nichols, Reno, Nev. 
Chris Oberle, Kings Beach, Calif. 
 
Para Surf Prone 1
Sarah Bettencourt, San Diego, Calif. 
Katherine Beattie, Los Angeles, Calif.  
Christiaan "Otter" Bailey, Santa Cruz, Calif. 
 
Para Surf Prone 2
Jose Martinez, Los Angeles, Calif. 
Jesse Billauer, Palisades, Calif. 
 Quinn Waitley, Coronado, Calif.

Para Surf Visually Impaired 1
Barbie Pacheco, Valley Mills, Texas 
Joshua Loya, Santa Cruz, Calif. 
 
Para Surf Visually Impaired 2
Alison Eakin, Ojai, Calif. 
*See team members full bios at ​https://www.usasurfing.org/para-surf-team.html