SENEGAL: SURFING - Surfers take to the waves in the country's national competition

Record ID: 493045

  • Title: SENEGAL: SURFING - Surfers take to the waves in the country's national competition
  • Date: 2nd October 2010
  • Summary: CHILDREN RUNNING INTO WATER WITH BODYBOARD
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Senegal
  • Country: Senegal
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA1LSO29FLAJEBKCBS5VUWLE65C
  • Story Text: It may no be Hawaii or Biarritz, but every one of these talented surfers on Yoff beach in Senegal dreams of one day competing with the best, in the surfing world hottest spots.
    Hundreds of people come to the beach in Dakar at the weekend to cool off the seasonal heat and wash away the week's stress.
    Sticking far out into the Atlantic on the tip of the Cap Vert peninsula, the beaches and rocky reefs surrounding Dakar catch swells from almost every direction, meaning waves high enough to ride can always be found somewhere.
    There were only three surfers in Senegal when Cyril Audouard pioneered his surf shop in Dakar back in the 1990's.
    Now there are more than 300, in Dakar alone.
    "The big advantage of Senegal and Dakar itself is that it's a peninsula, it is the most western point in Africa, so you basically get all the swells from all directions so when it is winter in the north we get all the northern depth and when it is summer here, it is still winter in the southern hemisphere then we also get the depth,'' said Cyril Audouard, the South African owner of Dakar's first surf shop.
    As the surfers' numbers continue to swell, the city hopes one day Dakar will be West Africa's answer to Hawaii.
    ''For the surf tourism it is a great destination because even if we have very very nice waves, the average wave will be, let's say 3 or 4 feet all the year around, this will be the average which is really good for beginners and intermediate surfers,'' Audouard said.
    But intermediate surfing is not what these young athletes have come here for today.
    It's the day of the National Surfing competition, and everyone competes for Senegal's surfing biggest title.
    Most of these young men belong to the Lebou ethnic group, who live along Dakar's coastline and work as deep sea fishermen. They brave the ocean waves from a very young age - something reflected in the competition. The youngest competitor is not even 12 years old yet.
    "We worked a lot and were very active, particularly on the organisation front, the rules, the security and environmental aspects in Senegal to get to a satisfactory level, comparable with competitions of international standards," said Alexandre Alcantara, the president of the small but energetic Senegalese Surf Federation.
    There's a real surfing potential in the country, but a lot still needs to be done for Senegal to be able to reach the dream of international standards.
    The country's surf federation still only counts five clubs under its umbrella, the sponsors are still timidly making their first steps on the scene and the country's still far from developing a surf commercially.
    But still funds are brought in both by the Divers Association and by the passion of young promising surfers who come on the scene every year on Dakar's beaches.
    Adama Diallo is a young Lebou surfer who's here just chasing his dream.
    "My dream is to compete against the pros, someone like Mick Fanning or Andy Irons, I dreamt about this for a long time but God willing maybe one day will come when I can compete against them," Diallo said.
    His coach, Oumar Seye says this could well become a reality one day.
    "A hot country like Senegal with such a beautiful coastline and extraordinary waves, in the future we can create some good champions here and have good surfers," Seye said.
    And why not. It was here that two Californians first introduced surfing to West Africa in 1964, filming the iconic surf travel movie "Endless Summer".
    And these young Lebou men, walking in their steps, could well be the founders of a new "surf nation."
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