Singapore surfer to debut at Asian Games in Japan — Channel NewsAsia
Singaporean surfer Camille Spaccarotella will compete at the Asian Games in Tahara, Japan. She will become the first surfer from Singapore to compete at these continental games. The 21-year-old athlete aims to finish on the podium at the tournament, where surfing will be included in the Asian Games programme for the first time.
As Channel NewsAsia reports, Spaccarotella’s interest in surfing began about ten years ago during a family beach holiday in Bali. Her first start in 2020 was unsuccessful: due to nervousness, she did not catch a single wave in her heat and then questioned whether she should continue competing.
Training in Bali
Several years later, the athlete returned to competitive surfing at a local tournament in Bali and took third place. In June 2023, she represented Singapore at the Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives, where she narrowly missed the podium.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
There are almost no natural places to train on waves in Singapore, so Bali has become Spaccarotella’s main training base. She spends up to four months there each year training in the waves. The surfer has also competed in India, South Korea and the Philippines, where she had the opportunity to compete against more experienced athletes from the region.
Goal: the podium
In 2024, Spaccarotella became the first surfer from Singapore to qualify for the Asian Games. Surfing competitions begin on September 25 in Tahara; athletes from Japan and Indonesia are expected to be among the strongest participants.
The athlete said that her goal is to finish on the podium, while calling participation in the tournament an important step in her sporting career. She also believes that an artificial wave pool in Singapore could help develop surfing and attract new athletes to the sport.
