SurfGirl chats to para surfer Hannah Dines and filmmaker Christina Yianni about their short film, Breaks, which aims to bring para surfing to a wider audience.
Para surfer: Hannah Dines
Hannah, what inspired you to take up para surfing and how has it shaped your perspective on life?
Any huge change in a society or even a single individual’s life is actually made up of lots of small moments from within that person and outside in the community too. The word I hate the most used by non-disabled journalists when writing about disabled people is inspiring. Not just because it is mis-used but because no matter how inspired I may have felt prior to the late 2010s, I couldn’t have surfed because the technology and accessibility weren’t known or widely available in the UK.
Hannah, what inspired you to take up para surfing and how has it shaped your perspective on life?
Any huge change in a society or even a single individual’s life is actually made up of lots of small moments from within that person and outside in the community too. The word I hate the most used by non-disabled journalists when writing about disabled people is inspiring. Not just because it is mis-used but because no matter how inspired I may have felt prior to the late 2010s, I couldn’t have surfed because the technology and accessibility weren’t known or widely available in the UK.
However, things were changing and the disabled surfers were organising in the USA and surf schools for people with additional needs were gaining funding in the UK. With that kind of change you get people wanting to make movies and then you get representation. So, in the end I was inspired, at long last. I watched a film called Penguin Bloom, a biopic of Australian World Champ surfer Sam Bloom and my mum watched it and insisted I did too. The disability aspect of the movie isn’t relatable to me, I didn’t have an accident leading to disability; I was born with cerebral palsy. I don’t see my body as a tragedy to overcome and yet a lot of movies centring the disabled experienced are about acquired disabilities and I do struggle with that.
When did you start Para surfing?
I went to Australia in 2019 and took a train to Byron Bay and had an assisted surfing experience but I still didn’t think it could be a thing for me in the UK. Two years later I was surfing every day at Surfability UK a surf school in Wales and I knew I had found what I’d been looking for my whole life. I went back to Hawaii that year and surfed every day. Had my mum and I not watched that beautiful and important movie together I don’t think I would have pursued para surfing. Crucially, it was the first image I ever saw of a woman with a disability surfing and prone surfing, too. Key to note I went right up to Sam when I saw her at my first World Championships in 2021; she is lovely and the best figurehead for our sport. I am still a fan girl to this day and at first I absolutely tried to copy how she surfed that whole competition instead of finding a way which worked for me and my body, oops. However, I did then effectively hunt down the best girl with cerebral palsy who surfed: Quinn Waitley and asked how she surfed. That was actually much better for me in terms of developing my surfing but beginning it, that’s down to Sam (and a multi-cultural, global change in attitude and funding towards surfing for people with additional needs).
I went to Australia in 2019 and took a train to Byron Bay and had an assisted surfing experience but I still didn’t think it could be a thing for me in the UK. Two years later I was surfing every day at Surfability UK a surf school in Wales and I knew I had found what I’d been looking for my whole life. I went back to Hawaii that year and surfed every day. Had my mum and I not watched that beautiful and important movie together I don’t think I would have pursued para surfing. Crucially, it was the first image I ever saw of a woman with a disability surfing and prone surfing, too. Key to note I went right up to Sam when I saw her at my first World Championships in 2021; she is lovely and the best figurehead for our sport. I am still a fan girl to this day and at first I absolutely tried to copy how she surfed that whole competition instead of finding a way which worked for me and my body, oops. However, I did then effectively hunt down the best girl with cerebral palsy who surfed: Quinn Waitley and asked how she surfed. That was actually much better for me in terms of developing my surfing but beginning it, that’s down to Sam (and a multi-cultural, global change in attitude and funding towards surfing for people with additional needs).
How did the film come about and can you tell us a bit about it please?
Christina is this shy, gentle non-assuming person. She’s really lovely but persistent. I had wrapped another small documentary film, directed and produced by Lost in Paradise called “Born to Move”. I didn’t like the experience, and I said I’d never do it again.
Then Christina came along but I was so exhausted and terrified of going through the process again, I was adamant it couldn’t just be me. I’m aware I am a privileged white girl surfing, disability or no. Filmed twice in one year, no. However, it seemed like I had interacted the most with her out of all the Para surfers she had contacted. I really believe in free knowledge gathering and sharing. It’s the key to sports participation and suddenly she was filming my World Championships prep and then at that year’s World Champs.
Christina is this shy, gentle non-assuming person. She’s really lovely but persistent. I had wrapped another small documentary film, directed and produced by Lost in Paradise called “Born to Move”. I didn’t like the experience, and I said I’d never do it again.
Then Christina came along but I was so exhausted and terrified of going through the process again, I was adamant it couldn’t just be me. I’m aware I am a privileged white girl surfing, disability or no. Filmed twice in one year, no. However, it seemed like I had interacted the most with her out of all the Para surfers she had contacted. I really believe in free knowledge gathering and sharing. It’s the key to sports participation and suddenly she was filming my World Championships prep and then at that year’s World Champs.
How do you feel that para surfing is contributing to breaking down stigmas around disabilities?
Certainly that para surfing is not just “typical surfing” but where a shark has bitten off your arm; it can be of course be that but that it is so many different things. The para surfing community is diverse as the shape of waves around the world. There are many more athletes who were born without limbs than those who have lost them to sharks, by the way. Everyone’s experience is different and not just due to disability but also there’s big cultural, financial divides around the world that make surfing different for us. Bodies are just one thing.
Certainly that para surfing is not just “typical surfing” but where a shark has bitten off your arm; it can be of course be that but that it is so many different things. The para surfing community is diverse as the shape of waves around the world. There are many more athletes who were born without limbs than those who have lost them to sharks, by the way. Everyone’s experience is different and not just due to disability but also there’s big cultural, financial divides around the world that make surfing different for us. Bodies are just one thing.
What do you feel is the biggest misconception about para surfing and how does the film address this?
The misconception that para surfing isn’t a sport or a serious sport. The misconception that disability can’t be interesting or art or a good story if the tragedy isn’t the disability is intertwined, for me at least. That you can simply be born driven, no matter what happens to you, you know?
“The para surfing community is diverse as the shape of waves around the world.”
Film maker: Christina Yianni
Christina, can you tell us a bit about the film and how did it came about?
I used to surf a bit in my 20’s and enjoyed the cultural connections it opened up. I always had a respect for how difficult and dangerous the sport could be.
I hadn’t made a documentary before and it wasn’t on my radar, but while I was studying Healthcare Design at the RCA I came across these incredible adaptive designers who had designed a prosthetic leg for a lifeguard that would work both on sand and in the sea. I did some more research to see if anything had been done in the field of surfing and started finding all these amazing para surfers (adaptive surfers) in the UK who were self-funding and competing at championships around the world. Behind them were communities of coaches, board and wetsuit designers, organisations, professional surfers and presenters who were all empowering and advocating for the sport, not just for professional athletes but for every age and ability. The incredible community spirit behind them and the resilience of the parasurfers convinced me that their story was relevant, impactful and a powerful contribution to the sport and its future.
Christina, can you tell us a bit about the film and how did it came about?
I used to surf a bit in my 20’s and enjoyed the cultural connections it opened up. I always had a respect for how difficult and dangerous the sport could be.
I hadn’t made a documentary before and it wasn’t on my radar, but while I was studying Healthcare Design at the RCA I came across these incredible adaptive designers who had designed a prosthetic leg for a lifeguard that would work both on sand and in the sea. I did some more research to see if anything had been done in the field of surfing and started finding all these amazing para surfers (adaptive surfers) in the UK who were self-funding and competing at championships around the world. Behind them were communities of coaches, board and wetsuit designers, organisations, professional surfers and presenters who were all empowering and advocating for the sport, not just for professional athletes but for every age and ability. The incredible community spirit behind them and the resilience of the parasurfers convinced me that their story was relevant, impactful and a powerful contribution to the sport and its future.
What role do you feel films like this play in shifting public perceptions about disability sports?
Everyone I have talked to about this film, whether they surf or not, are fascinated by it and it shows me that there is an appetite out there for disability sport if broadcasters and film festival curators will just take a chance and give disability sport on screen an opportunity to find its audience.
I also heard and saw for myself how para surfing has been impacting the culture of surfing – surfers would tell me how they had begun to understand that there were multiple ways to surf, from prone to kneeling or kayak style – all just as valid as stand up surfing. And because para surfing is a team effort, I could also see how it was turning surfing from a loner, individualistic sport into a community one and opening up the doors to anyone wishing to give it a try.
Everyone I have talked to about this film, whether they surf or not, are fascinated by it and it shows me that there is an appetite out there for disability sport if broadcasters and film festival curators will just take a chance and give disability sport on screen an opportunity to find its audience.
I also heard and saw for myself how para surfing has been impacting the culture of surfing – surfers would tell me how they had begun to understand that there were multiple ways to surf, from prone to kneeling or kayak style – all just as valid as stand up surfing. And because para surfing is a team effort, I could also see how it was turning surfing from a loner, individualistic sport into a community one and opening up the doors to anyone wishing to give it a try.
What are your plans for the film in 2025?
The film is currently being submitted into film festivals around the world and I hope everyone in every part of the world will have an opportunity to see it on a big screen somewhere. Once its run is completed, it will have a virtual life and be accessible for everyone who wishes to watch it and use it to promote the sport, raise funds, and raise awareness for disability sports.
