Photo credits:

Brogen Latham

Jack Middleton

Bodysurfer, Newquay, Cornwall, UK

I have been bodysurfing for a couple of years now, although I only really started this time last year after I came third in the only bodysurfing competition in the UK – the Approaching Lines Slyder Cup. From there I became sponsored by Australian bodysurfing company Garage Handplanes, which then led to my friend David and I making a bodysurfing film that came second in the public vote section of the London Surf Film Festival and was shown at the Regent Street Cinema in London. Moving on from this, David and I have already started making a new film documenting bodysurfing in the cold, stormy waters of the UK. I am looking to compete in the World Bodysurfing Championships in 2016 and am aiming to enter other competitions in Australia and Europe. I am also hoping to start writing a series of articles on bodysurfing for local surf mags here in the UK.

Our bodysurfing film entry into the London Surf Film Festival:

Coming from a competitive open water and pool swimming background, I know how important it is to protect your ears. Since starting work for an enviro-surf charity (Surfers Against Sewage) and beginning bodysurfing in the cold, not always clean, waters of the UK this importance has become even more significant.