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Guided by instinct and signals whistled by her
coach, Lopez has been training hard to become Spain's first
blind female athlete to enter the World Adaptive Surfing
Championship in La Jolla, California, on Wednesday.
"The sea is where I feel peace and freedom, as if it were where
I'm supposed to be," she said sitting on her surfboard after an
hour and a half of wave-riding practice in the Bay of Biscay in
northern Spain.
"I'm not different from other surfers," said Lopez, who was born
with congenital glaucoma and lost her vision completely when she
was a child.
In its fourth edition, the La Jolla event for surfers with
disabilities features its first team competition for
visually-impaired female athletes, with Lopez representing
Spain.
Blind surfers such as Lopez' countryman Aitor Francesena or
Brazilian Derek Rabelo have achieved legendary status in the
sport, and Lopez, who only took up surfing a few months ago, is
aiming high.
After the La Jolla tournament, organized by the International
Surfing Association (ISA), Lopez aims to compete in the 2024
Paralympic Games in Paris. ISA has been campaigning to make
adaptive surfing a Paralympic sport.
Lopez has also practiced figure-skating and horse-riding and her
coach and friend Lucas Garcia praised her natural balance and
instinct. Garcia, who swims next to Lopez when she surfs, is her
'eyes' when it comes to telling her about a wave coming up.
"A single whistle means the wave is coming on her right side,
and a double whistle, on her left side," he said, likening the
signals to the way dolphins communicate.
Lopez wants to encourage others with disabilities to challenge
their limitations, live a full life and perhaps try out radical
sports.
(Reporting by Sabela Ojea and Eloy Alonso, Editing by Andrei
Khalip and Louise Heavens)
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