The Oceanside USA Surfing Para Surf Championship is always a great big reunion of friends and competitors from across the nation and Hawaii, and time to shine and show off what Para Surf athletes have been working on all year. It was the perfect way to celebrate International Surfing Day. 

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The 2022 edition presented by Playa Bowls featured impressive debut performances. 

In his first competition as a Para Surfer, Forrest Weinberg of Long Beach, Calif. won the Stand 2 Men’s event, earning him a spot on USA Surfing’s International Surfing Association (ISA) World Para Surfing Championship team. 

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Fellow military veteran and 2021 Prone 2 ISA World Para Surfing Gold Medalist Jose Martinez continues to improve his fitness, speed and critical maneuvers, starting off the final with a long, carving, 8-point ride that had the rest of the field playing defense.

Two-time ISA World Para Surfing Championship Gold Medalist and team co-captain Sarah Bettencourt got a buzzer beater long, connecting wave to earn an 8.5 and move from last to first in the Prone 1 division. Fellow team co-captain Christiaan "Otter" Bailey found and kept rhythm with the ocean, easily winning the Prone 1 Men final. 

"The depth and breadth of talent on display at this years USA Surfing national championships was unreal," Bailey said. "We're super stoked to invite some new faces onto our team this year! It's time to dig deep, dial in equipment and train hard in the coming months, as come December, Team USA will be ready to drop the hammer and bring the fire to defend its ISA World Champion title!"

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Bailey said the level of talent, support teams, sponsorships, and publicity reflects the drive to get Para Surfing in the Paralympics - the world's largest sporting stage. 

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USA Surfing’s Team Toyota Para Surf team won the team Gold Medal in the 2021 International Surfing Association’s World Para Surfing Championship event presented by AmpSurf in Pismo Beach, Calif. It was USA Surfing’s strongest showing in the event’s six-year history, with nine American surfers making the podium. Learn more about the team: https://usasurfteam.medium.com/the-push-for-paralympic-surfing-continues-3f3ced1d3b33​

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See results for all the divisions below. 

Stand 2 Men

1st Forrest Weinberg

2nd Shawn Whitaker @shawniewhitaker 

3rd Shawn Lewis 

4th Carter Hess @a_swellpirate 

Kneel 1 Men

1st Aaron Loy @aaronloy4 

2nd Benji Davis

3rd Mike Pingatore

4th Josh Bogle @joshybogle 

Prone 2 Men 

1st Jose Martinez

2nd Jesse Billauer @jessebillauer 

3rd Shawn Eastham @shawneastham

4th Scott Davis 

Prone 1 Women

1st Sarah Bettencourt

2nd Katherine Beattie

Prone 2 Women

1st Quinn Waitley @quinn_cess

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Stand 1 Women

1st Faith Lenox @faithhopemaui 

2nd Liv Stone @livstone 

Stand 2 Women

1st Sarah Dean

Stand 1 Men

1st Michael Spivey @spyv005 

2nd Ryan Gambrell @ryan_gambrell 

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Stand 3 

1st Ty Duckett @ty_seeen 

Prone 1 Men

1st Christiaan Otter Bailey

2nd Casey Proud

3rd Jacob Pacheco

4th Parker Olenick @parkero.11 

Waveski

1st Chris Oberle  @chrisoberle 

2nd Ethan Kairer @starfishontoast 

3rd Jeff Munson

Vision Impaired 1

1st Joshua Loya @spotloya 

Vision Impaired 2

1st Alison Eakin @gratitudegardens__

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