Ailsa Harvey

 Tokyo 2020 will see the sport’s Olympic debut with 40 surfers expected to compete for medals, but how much do you know about surfing? How often have you seen it feature in sports news?
Surfing is a surface water sport, first observed by British explorers at Tahiti in 1767. The sport involves incredible balance to be able to ride powerful waves while executing maneuvers such as turns and cutbacks towards the breaking wave.

Did you know…

– The longest ride ever done on a wave was 37 minutes in Pororoca.
– When the wave breaks over a surfer it’s called getting ‘barreled’ because you can’t go left or right.
– Kelly Slater is the highest paid surfer, bringing in 3 million dollars as 9th time world champion in 2009.

COMING SOON: We speak to 2018 Scottish Women’s surfing champion Phoebe Strachan to find out what it’s like competing in surfing and surfing in Scotland!