Carmen Lopez of Spain has been blind since childhood. Now a world champion adaptive surfer, she has found her own method for feeling a way into the waves.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 For me, surfing is everything.
00:08 It's peace.
00:09 It's freedom.
00:10 It's fitting in.
00:11 In the water, I'm no different from other people.
00:22 But on land, everyone knows me as the blind girl,
00:24 the girl with a dog.
00:26 I'm the one with a disability, but not here.
00:30 Carmen Lopez hears the sea.
00:33 She feels the waves.
00:34 But the athlete from Oviedo, northern Spain,
00:37 also follows her coach's voice.
00:41 In the water, I'm her eyes.
00:43 I warn her of all kinds of dangers.
00:44 For example, Carmen, there's a wave coming.
00:46 I always prepare her, because if a wave comes without breaking,
00:50 she won't hear it.
00:51 To communicate with Carmen in the water,
00:53 we developed a whistling system that also
00:55 works in wind and loud waves.
00:58 One whistle means more to the right.
01:00 And two to the left.
01:05 And in case of danger, one long whistle.
01:12 Something like that.
01:19 Carmen was born with a congenital disease
01:22 that blinded her as a child.
01:23 At 15, she took up surfing.
01:29 The first time I stood up on the board and made it to shore,
01:36 I said, my god, I love this.
01:39 This is what I want to keep doing.
01:42 I didn't yet know how I was going to do it
01:44 and how serious I was about it.
01:47 But I knew that I definitely wanted to keep surfing.
01:52 Lucas Garcia and Carmen have been a team since 2018.
01:56 Training Carmen was easier than he expected.
01:58 I had my doubts at first, but then I said to myself, why not?
02:05 When I went into the water with her,
02:07 I immediately realized that the prejudices and barriers
02:10 were mine.
02:11 Carmen made it very easy for me.
02:13 I realized that I simply had to teach her
02:14 the same as everyone else.
02:16 With her, I just had to look for different ways.
02:19 And I'm lucky that I get on incredibly well with her.
02:22 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
02:23 Oh.
02:24 In 2018, Carmen became the first blind athlete from Spain
02:32 to compete at the World Adaptive Surfing
02:35 Championship in California.
02:37 In 2020, she won two gold medals.
02:41 For me, winning the World Cup was like a dream
02:44 because it was what I wanted most.
02:47 It was like in a movie.
02:50 And the fact that everyone on the team
02:52 could be there at that moment, it was simply incredible.
02:56 I've had a few bad falls, but I've never been afraid
03:03 or felt that I was in danger or that I never wanted
03:05 to go back into the water.
03:08 It's a risky sport, not only for me, but for everyone else,
03:11 too.
03:15 Besides the physical challenges of the sport,
03:18 Carmen has other hurdles to overcome, too.
03:20 Finding sponsors is a problem because surfing
03:27 is, in general, a niche sport.
03:30 And on top of that, in my case, it's
03:32 also women's surfing and adaptive surfing.
03:37 It's a vicious circle, really, because if we
03:40 don't find sponsors for adaptive sports,
03:43 then it will continue to be less profitable
03:46 than conventional sports.
03:47 To finance her competitions, Carmen
03:53 sells accessories inspired by the sea and the beach.
03:57 She also earns money training assistance dogs
04:04 for visually impaired people.
04:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:10 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
04:13 But whenever she finds time, Carmen
04:16 catches the surf with her trainer.
04:19 I want to encourage others to try anything they want
04:22 because dreams can come true if we
04:25 believe that they are achievable.
04:27 There are no limits, only the limits we set for ourselves.
04:31 Everyone should fight for their dreams and try everything.
04:35 Carmen, for one, wants to live her dream
04:38 and win even more titles.
04:40 Her big goal, the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
04:45 in Los Angeles.