Michael Deboe

The late Mike Deboe, who recently passed away in 2009, is credited with bringing the different surfing clubs together to compete in the first World Deaf Surfing Championship at K-58 in Baja California during the summer of 2001.  Prior to 2001, there is documentation that Japan and Australia had deaf surfing clubs in existence, but no international competition until that point.

Japan is known as having the oldest organized deaf surfing club, being in existence for 30+ years and Australia in the past 20+ years.  Only after Mike Deboe had the audacity to declare an international deaf surfing competition, the different surf clubs around the world started to cooperate for the bi-annual competition, thus giving birth to IDSA.

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​Ian “Vibes” Murray

 

Australian Deaf surfer and of the first leaders in deaf surfing.

 

Read more at

http://deafsurf.weebly.com/ian-vibes-murray.html

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