Lennox Head surfer claims Australian Title

By Sarah Waters

Lennox Head surfer Joel Taylor, 42, has won the 2023 Australian Para Surfing Titles making a remarkable comeback to the competition circuit after a 22-year break.

Joel secured the Australian title at Port Macquarie on August 13 in the Prone 1 Division.

The former professional bodyboarder, had not been in the ocean for 20 years – until 12 months ago when a few of his mates encouraged him to get back in.

“I kept making excuses saying it wasn’t the right time,” Joel said.

“But we were just down on the beach in Byron one day and they decided to push me out of my comfort zone, which I’m super glad they did.”

Joel was left a paraplegic at the age of 21 while surfing as a professional bodyboarder at Pipeline in Hawaii in 2001.

He was at the top of his game, but while he was doing a promotional shoot and preparing for the Pipeline Pro bodyboarding contest, he came into serious trouble at the famous surf break.

“I slammed the reef at Pipeline, broke my back and was paralysed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury,” he said.

“I still remember everything about that day like it was yesterday – waking up in the dark and jogging along the bike path from Log Cabins to Pipe, meeting up with Winston (McCall) my mate from back home.

“Lacing up my fins on the beach, running and jumping in the water and paddling out before sunlight.

“Then, the late drop, the uncontrollable flip from the shockwave and the impact with the reef with my feet.

“The instant pain and then realisation I was paralysed before I reached the surface … the struggle to stay above water and to get to shore.”

Joel Taylor in the final of The Australian Para Surfing Titles Photo: Kurt Polock

Joel was airlifted to a hospital in Honolulu, where he was told he was paralysed and would be confined to a wheelchair.

He said there were a few dark years that followed.

“I wasn’t really interested in surfing anymore – or sure if I could ever surf again,” he said.

“My life was turned upside down.

“I didn’t touch the water for 20 years, but life kept going and there was still a lot I wanted to do.

“I started my own clothing brand Unite in 2004 and that took priority.”

At times, Joel would go down to the ocean, which was only five minutes from his doorstep in Lennox Head, because he wanted to remember what it felt like to surf as well as he used to.

When his friends managed to convince him to go back into the ocean on a bodyboard he said, ‘it just felt natural.’

“I felt the energy of the waves again and you don’t feel that on land.

“I had forgotten what it was like … it was like I was back where I belonged.”

Joel also wanted his young sons, aged four and one, to grow up like he had – in the ocean.

After he realised how easily he took to surfing again, he discovered para surfing and fell in love with the sport.

His focus then turned to The Australian Para Surfing Titles.

“I realised my love of the ocean, surfing and competing never left me,” he said.

“I was training every day (over the past 12 months) and I was in the right frame of mind on the day of the competition.”

Despite the waves being a lot smaller than what he was used to, on the day of the competition, he bet six competitors from across Australia to win the title.

“My first time competing at an Australian championship was the National Bodyboard Titles held at Ballina in 1993 when I was 12 years old,” he said.

“I never managed to claim an Australian Title as an amateur or professional bodyboarder.

“To get one 30 years later, as a para surfer, is unbelievable.

“To share it with my family and friends watching on the beach is even better.”

Joel has now been selected for the Australian Team to compete at the ISA World Para Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, California, this November.

It will be his first time travelling overseas since his accident in 2001.

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