Christiaan "Otter" Bailey (born March 31, 1981, Santa Cruz, California), is an American professional surfer, known for his experience as a surf safari guide and skill as a big wave surfer and skateboarder.

Early life and education

Bailey grew up in the Santa Cruz, California area and excelled as a semi-pro surfer and skateboarder. He and his family departed for France when he was young, where he attended the

American School of Paris The American School of Paris (ASP), established in 1946, is a coeducational, independent international school in Saint-Cloud, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. The school has over 800 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-Bac ...

Career

Bailey moved back to Santa Cruz in the fall of 2003. He was a professional surfer and skateboarder, who spent much of his time in Central America and west Africa as a back-country surf guide. On July 23, 2006, during the filming of a skateboarding video at Derby skatepark in Santa Cruz, Bailey crashed on his skateboard, fracturing several vertebrae in his back (L3, L4, S3), damaging his spinal cord in the process, which left him paralyzed from the waist down as a result. In 2007, Bailey and Frank Bauer, started an international

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization, Ocean Healing Group (OHG), which provides once-in-a-lifetime, Costa Ricabased, adaptive sports adventures and quality-of-life programs to children with disabilities.

Accomplishments

Since his injury, Bailey's sponsors have continued to support him, giving him the opportunity to surf on tour. He participates in expression sessions on various legs of several different pro and semi-pro tours; including the WSL(World Surf League) WQS/WCT (World Qualifying Series & World Championship Tour), Western Surfing Association tour, National Scholastic Surfing Association tour and Volcom Crustaceous Series events. Since his injury in July 2006, Bailey has gone on to become Captain of USA Surfing, is a three time USA National Champion (2009,2017,18), 7 time ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship medalist (2015-Silver, 2016-Silver & Team Silver, 2017 Silver & Team Bronze, 2018 Silver and Team Gold). He has surfed in expression sessions during the O'Neill Coldwater Classic (2006–12,15,16),

US Open of Surfing The U.S. Open of Surfing is a week-long surfing competition held annually during the summer in Huntington Beach, California. Generally held on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, the U.S. Open is part of the qualification process for t ...

(2007–16), Hurley Pro at Lowers WCT (2008–11,12,14) Reef Panama Classic (2007–08, 2010), Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach (2009,11) Globe WCT Fiji (2010,11) Quicksilver Pro Hossegor (2008–10), NSSA National Championships (2007), WSA National Championships (2008–10) and the Volcom Crustaceous Tour Series (2008–11). Bailey was the first paralyzed person to win the WSA Championships (Trestles 2009), as well as the first paralyzed person to surf "Mavericks" (Half Moon Bay, California). In March 2010, Christiaan Bailey and

Aaron Fotheringham Aaron Fotheringham is an extreme wheelchair athlete who performs tricks adapted from skateboarding and BMX. He competes in the Vegas Am Jam series in skate park competitions, usually against BMX riders. Fotheringham calls his activity "WCMX". ...

were selected by the IPC or

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

to be a part of "Team Extreme" for the Vancouver Paralympic Opening Ceremonies, showcasing the new sport of chairskating at

BC Place Stadium BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a Crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently t ...

in front of 73,000 people. Bailey is currently one of only two professional "chairskaters", and currently remains the only paralyzed professional big wave surfer in the world. He is also active in many international NGO's and disability related non profit organizations. He is a member of a United Nations medical delegation initiative called "Global Mobility", that provides ambulatory aid equipment, to people with disabilities in developing nations. He works closely with the Challenged Athletes Foundation as a surfing instructor and he is a coach at Ability First Wheelchair Sports Camp. He currently serves on the board of directors of USA Surfing (Surfing NGB), as well as the Adaptive Surfing advisory board for the International Surfing Association (Surfing IGB).

Early life and education

Career

Accomplishments

External links