Singapore's Surf Pioneer Camille Spaccarotella Aims for Asian Games Podium

Singapore’s surf pioneer Camille Spaccarotella is about to ride into history – and she’s aiming to do it from the podium.

When the Asian Games surfing competition launches in Tahara, Japan, on Sep 25, the 21-year-old will not only be part of the sport’s debut at the continental showpiece. She will also become the first surfer ever to represent Singapore at the Games, a landmark moment for both athlete and country.

For Spaccarotella, that starting block lies a long way from where it all began: a family beach holiday in Bali 10 years ago, a borrowed board, and the simple thrill of standing up on a wave. What started as a holiday diversion hardened into an obsession, then a career.

It was not a smooth ascent.

Her first attempt at competition, back in 2020, was a humbling experience. The event was small, the stakes modest, but the nerves were anything but.

“I was so stressed during that competition, I didn't catch a single wave in my heat,” she recalled. “So I decided maybe this is not for me.”

For many, that would have been the end of it. For her, it was just a pause. A couple of years later she entered a local event in Bali, this time with a little more composure and a lot more resolve. She finished third. The doubts eased; the ambition grew.

Finding a way without waves

The real breakthrough came in June 2023. Wearing Singapore colours at the Asian Surfing Championships in the Maldives, Spaccarotella went toe-to-toe with some of the region’s best and came close to a medal. Narrowly missing the podium stung, but it also confirmed she belonged at that level.

All of this has been built on an unconventional training base. Singapore has coastline but no consistent, surfable ocean waves. For a surfer with serious dreams, that is a brutal handicap.

So she left, regularly. Bali became her de facto home ground, the place where her surfing truly lives. Up to four months a year, she stations herself there, clocking long sessions in the water, refining technique, reading breaks, learning to adapt to whatever the ocean throws at her.

From there, the circuit widened. Events in India, South Korea and the Philippines dragged her out of familiar line-ups and into new conditions, new rivals, and a different kind of education.

“It not only changed the way I surfed and how I approached surfing, but it also allowed me to discover more parts of the world and connect with different people in the surf community as well,” she said.

She listened. Veterans who had been competing for years opened up, sharing the kind of hard-earned knowledge that doesn’t show up in coaching manuals.

“They have been competing for years, and they've gained so much experience and knowledge in this domain that they were very willing to share what they had learned,” she added.

A debut with real stakes

In 2024, the next barrier fell: Spaccarotella became the first Singapore surfer to qualify for the Asian Games. The history books will remember that line. She wants them to remember the result as well.

“I do want to have a podium finish. That is my aim for this,” she said, without softening the target.

At the same time, she knows what this moment means. “I need to also recognise that this is a huge step in my athletic career as well, and I'm just really grateful for that.”

She will need more than gratitude in Tahara. Surfing powerhouses Japan and Indonesia head into the Games as the obvious favourites, backed by deep talent pools, established cultures and, crucially, daily access to quality waves. Spaccarotella arrives from a country where surfers chase boat wakes and wind swell, or fly overseas to find the real thing.

That contrast underlines just how unlikely her journey has been – and how much further the sport could go in Singapore.

Pushing for a new wave at home

Spaccarotella is not content with being a one-off curiosity: the lone Singaporean with a board on the Asian Games stage. She wants company. She wants a scene.

Right now, one major obstacle stands in the way – the lack of consistent, ocean-like waves to train on at home. Weekend dabbling is possible. Elite progression is not.

Her solution is clear: a purpose-built wave pool.

“What the next step could be is really to bring in a proper wave pool that generates ocean-like waves, and that's what will bring in, I think, a new generation of surfers here,” she said.

She points to South Korea, where artificial wave facilities have helped cultivate a growing surf community in a country not blessed with endless world-class breaks. The model is there. The technology exists. The question is whether Singapore wants to ride that swell.

“It could be a huge game changer … and more people would be willing to try the sport,” she said.

For now, she remains the outlier: a Singaporean surfer forged in foreign waters, chasing medals against nations built on surf culture. In Tahara, the waves will not care about passports, infrastructure, or backstory.

If she can turn this historic debut into a place on the podium, the ripples back home might finally be big enough to change the tide.