And Aqua Health CI has aspirations for some of its clients to ultimately compete in European para-surfing competitions.
The company runs surf sessions at Vazon for people with visual impairments, while it is now also able to offer lessons for wheelchair users, courtesy of a new beach wheelchair which can be used in the water.
Aqua Health founder Rachael Green said the business had as many as 10 disabled clients making use of its surfing sessions – more than last year – and was looking to expand its offering, with a new trainee coach in the process of getting qualified.
‘What Sarah [Rive, co-founder] and I are able to offer currently, while it’s great, is quite limited because of the other aspects of our job which require us to be elsewhere,’ said Ms Green.
‘We’ve got more equipment and even a van now so we are growing, and we are the only International Surfing Association-qualified practitioners in the island.’
Her ultimate goal is to build a Channel Islands para-surfing team which travels to take part in European competitions.
‘That requires us to build a relationship with Jersey.
‘I still need to speak to them but I just think it would be fantastic if we could send some of our best athletes off to compete against the best in Europe.
‘Of course if there are any other surfers in the other islands as well then we’d be keen to include them, but what we are seeing locally in terms of our sessions is really positive and I’d love to be able to build on that.’
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