Harry Hilliar : photo courtesy Plymouth College of Art
Team News
Plymouth surfer to hit World Deaf Surf Competition in Hawaii
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 22 June, 2009 : - - A photography student from Plymouth is the only UK first-time competitor to take part in this year’s World Deaf Surf Competition in Hawaii in July. Harry Hilliar, who has just completed his Foundation Degree in Photography at Plymouth College of Art will fly out to Honolulu on the 2nd July to meet his fellow competitors and acclimatise to the conditions, and most important of all get practicing in the surf.
The United States Deaf Surfriders Association (USDSA) hosts the competition which was first held in 2001, and has since been held in Australia and Japan. The competition attracts deaf surfers from around the world.
Harry is the youngest and only first-time UK competitor; his strongest competitors are the DeLao brothers from the USA who have won various classes at the competition over the years. Harry will compete in the Open Short-boarding class.
Harry says “I have been surfing since I was nine years old and have been passionate about the sport ever since. I found out about the Deaf Surfing Competition when I was competing in the Deaf Olympics in Australia when I was eighteen. At that time the competitions were taking place in Japan and I realised that it coincided with the start of my Foundation Degree at the College so I decided to wait until I’d finished my course. I’m very excited about this opportunity and have been training every day. I can’t wait to fly out to Hawaii.”
The College have generously sponsored Harry to attend the competition and Harry will proudly sport the College’s new logo on his surfboard, however Harry has still had to finance most of the trip himself to be able to compete.
Harry plans to return to the College in September to complete a BA (Hons) in Photography, after which he’d like to pursue a career in travel and surf photography. Of his time at the College Harry says “Plymouth College of Art is a fantastic place to study. The support within the overall College has been fantastic but especially from the Learning Skills Department. Without their support I would have found it extremely difficult to progress.”
Much like Harry has taken advantage of the South West’s coastline to perfect his sport, Plymouth College of Art is planning to launch an Underwater and Surface-based Imaging BA (Hons) one year top-up programme in September 2010 which will be the first of its kind in the country. The programme will take advantage of the vast yet local natural and man-made resources that are readily on offer in Devon and Cornwall.
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www.plymouthart.ac.uk
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Claire Hucker
Team - Surfersvillage
