Watch: Pro-surfer paves the way for disabled students to catch waves in Argentina
In a coastal city in Argentina, surf’s up for everyone, able-bodied or otherwise. Lucas Rubiño is a man on a mission, making waves through his special surf school and adapted surfboards.
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00:00If I hadn't found surfing, I would have met Lucas.
00:05I think it would have been more boring.
00:11When I met Lucas, the first time he told me,
00:13get up on the board.
00:15And suddenly, after Lucas told me one, two, three,
00:18and I went up the wave,
00:20I began to realize that I was in the water
00:22and he was taking me to the wave.
00:24I thought I had achieved something that was already the maximum,
00:27to be standing on a board.
00:30I would have stayed with the idea that
00:32wearing a wheelchair or being a disabled person
00:35is synonymous with not fully enjoying the beach, the water.
00:43My name is Lucas Rubinio.
00:45I run a school for people with all kinds of disabilities.
01:01The people who attend our school
01:03have different types of conditions and disabilities.
01:07They are people with autism, quadriplegics,
01:10cerebral palsy.
01:12Also with injuries.
01:14Many times they have accidents that generate
01:17a hemiplegia or some motor disability.
01:20Medullary injuries.
01:22People with amputations.
01:24Anyone can surf.
01:26Anyone can surf.
01:28Regardless of age, physical condition,
01:31disability or intellectual,
01:33with a little desire, creativity and with equipment,
01:36first you can be safe and then you can have fun.
01:45We have to have boards prepared with different adaptations,
01:49such as walkers, postural chairs,
01:52boards with different accessories such as grips,
01:55and a res.
01:57It looks for the shape,
01:59according to the weight and height of the person.
02:02It makes the canyons longer or shorter
02:06to make a tripod shape
02:08that the person can hold.
02:10You can use a wheelchair,
02:12that already has the old wheels.
02:14You can use the seat and the backrest
02:16so that the person can surf safely.
02:18In 2015 we were lucky to take the first surf team
02:22adapted to the California World Cup.
02:26They proposed to Evelyn to participate
02:30and she represented Argentina in 18 countries.
02:34We were in the first adapted surf championship.
02:38Eve was in the fourth.
02:42That made her feel much more confident.
02:45The relationship that Eve has with Lucas is the best.
02:49She trusts him a lot.
02:52It's a compliment that they can trust each other.
02:56First they have to build a bond with each other
02:59to be able to trust each other
03:01and above all to be able to empathize
03:05in a different way with him.
03:09There is a lot of trust.
03:12I started to study special education
03:14and that opened up a world to me.
03:16It opened my mind to know another world.
03:18For example, I didn't have the same way of communicating
03:21as I did, which was verbal.
03:23And in the water we also communicated by touch.
03:26When Eve had to stand up,
03:28we would give her a pat on the foot.
03:36My son's name is Ignacio.
03:38We call him Nacho.
03:40He is an autistic child.
03:42He also has a speech disorder.
03:44He has auditory hypersensitivity,
03:46olfactory hypersensitivity.
03:50So surfing, the connection with the water,
03:54the connection with the board,
03:56helps in a very positive way.
04:00It's like an alternative therapy.
04:02It's super fun.
04:09Surfing is a discipline that teaches you a lot.
04:14You have to be in communication with nature
04:18to be able to be patient,
04:20to know how to wait for the wave,
04:22to be able to have a synchronization with the waves
04:26to be able to reach them.
04:28And to be able to surf them,
04:30you have to distribute the weight of the body on the board.
04:32It's much easier,
04:34because when you believe in the person
04:36and the possibilities,
04:38there is no barrier and everything is possible.
04:45I believe that when you enter the sea,
04:47regardless of whether you walk,
04:49whether you have an orthopedic foot,
04:51whether you were transplanted or whatever,
04:53inside the water we are all the same
04:55and we can enjoy it.
04:57The wave, that thing that takes you
05:00and slides you,
05:02makes you feel so at peace.
05:06What I like most about the school is to meet new people,
05:08meet new people,
05:10meet new life stories
05:12and know how people have such a point of resilience.
05:17I had the need to thank life
05:20in a tangible way.
05:22So that's where the need arose
05:24to be able to share with other people
05:26who are not as lucky as me.
05:28Among the new goals we have for the school
05:30is to continue sharing with other people
05:32from all over the country
05:34all the knowledge we have acquired in these years.
05:36Not only with other surf schools,
05:38but with teachers from different areas.
05:40Call it music,
05:42also art, sport,
05:44being able to open the doors to anyone.
05:48First, it made me feel like a better person.
05:52And second, it was a way to work on what I like.
06:04University of Waterloo