New Delhi, 17 September (H.S.): Indian surfing team head coach Samai Reboul has said that the 2026 Asian Games represent an important step in the development of surfing in India, but his ultimate objective is to see Indian surfers qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Born in France, Reboul has been serving as the head coach of the Surfing Federation of India since 2024 and is leading the preparations of the four-member Indian team.

Surfing is among the six new sports included in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The competition will be held at the renowned Pacific Long Beach from September 25. India will field two competitors each in the men’s and women’s shortboard events. Kishore Kumar and Sivaraj Babu will represent India in the men’s category, while Tamil Nadu’s Kamali Murthy and Goa’s Sugar Shanti Banarse will compete in the women’s category. Quota places for the 2028 Olympics will also be available through surfing at the Asian Games.

Sanjay Selvamani is serving as Reboul’s deputy on the coaching staff. Selvamani, associated with Kovalam, is one of the pioneers of competitive surfing in India and a professional surf instructor. He has represented India at the ISA World Surfing Games as a member of the country’s first national team and is now contributing his international experience to the athletes’ preparations.

The 41-year-old Reboul holds a French passport but considers himself Indian. He said he has spent more than half of his life in Auroville, Puducherry.

Speaking to SAI Media, he said, “My father is French and my mother is Basque. While living in a remote part of northern Spain, they first heard about Sri Aurobindo and Auroville through friends. They were immediately drawn to it. My father first came to see for himself what the place was all about, and shortly after returning, we packed our belongings and moved to India.”

Recalling his early days in Auroville, Reboul said, “It did not take us long to make friends and feel at home here. Surfing played a major role in helping me feel comfortable. Being in the ocean felt like home to me, and I spent as much time in the water as possible, much to the concern of my parents and teachers.”

Speaking about his journey towards promoting surfing in India, Reboul said it was the result of a natural progression shaped by passion, experience and circumstance. “Getting there was the natural result of a combination of passion, experience and serendipity,” he said. “I worked as an instructor for more than 10 years and managed Kallialay Surf School. Throughout that experience, I always wanted to develop and advance as an instructor, and I obtained my ISA coaching and judging qualifications.”

A major milestone for Reboul came in 2024, when he coached the national team at the Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives and played a role in India securing a historic bronze medal. According to him, the achievement gave Indian surfers greater confidence and belief in their ability to perform at a higher level. The Asian Games will now provide a test of the level Indian surfing has reached.

Reboul said, “When a sport is included in an event like the Asian Games, it gains an entirely different level of recognition. For the athletes, it means they can represent a developing surfing nation on one of Asia’s biggest sporting stages. For young people watching in India, it also shows them a pathway to take surfing seriously as a sport. As a coach, it is a major responsibility as well. We have been preparing for this for some time, and now the athletes have an opportunity to show what Indian surfing can do.”

India’s coastline of more than 7,000 kilometres gives the country considerable potential for surfing. Organised surfing in the country began with the establishment of a national body in 2011, followed by the first national championship in 2013. Since then, surfing has expanded to various coastal regions across the country through the National Surf Series.

Reboul said, “Now we need time and investment. Building a surfing culture takes time. That is what India is developing at the moment. We are seeing better competitions, improved coaching, more young surfers and more athletes gaining international experience. India qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games is itself an important step in this development. I would say we are clearly moving in the right direction.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also emphasised the need to take sports such as surfing and climbing seriously in his address ahead of National Sports Day. He had said India’s natural resources are well suited to these sports and that the country should compete at the Olympic level.

Reboul said, “The Olympics are certainly part of the long-term vision, but an important objective on the way there is to create sustainable pathways for Indian surfers to develop from a young age and ultimately compete at the highest international level. The 2026 Asian Games are an important step in that direction.”

He added, “After that, we have to prepare for the 2028 Olympics and beyond. For me, success would mean that Indian surfers regularly compete internationally, travel with the necessary support, understand professional competition and are capable of qualifying for major events. If we build that system properly, Olympic qualification, which is the ultimate goal, will become a natural outcome of a strong system rather than a one-off objective.”

Speaking about his connection with Auroville and spirituality, Reboul said the two also have a deep connection with surfing.

“For me, the connection between spirituality and surfing is very strong,” he said. “The ocean is very good at reminding us that not everything is within our control. You can prepare completely, enter the water and then the waves can be completely different from what you expected. So you learn to adapt to the conditions. You learn patience. You learn to observe.”

He said, “To surf well, you have to be completely present in the moment. You cannot think about yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. Your entire focus is on reading the wave and responding to what is happening at that precise moment. This is called a ‘flow state’, and it can help a person enter a deeper state of meditation.”

The inclusion of surfing at the Asian Games and India’s qualification for the event for the first time are being seen as significant developments for the sport in the country. The development is expected to provide surfing with greater national recognition and structured support while creating a pathway towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar