Surfing makes a splash

Jetting ahead for jet surfing

"I used to have fair skin, but I got tanned after I fell for surfing," said Lin Chirui.

Lin, 38, used to work as a hairdresser in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. However, having grown up by the sea in Sanya, he has always loved water sports. Now he has become a national first-class jet surfer and the general manager of a sports company.

In 2016, Lin saw an exhibition on jet surfing in Sanya and found the new sport interesting. He immediately bought a secondhand electric surfboard and watched online instructional videos to figure out how to ride it. Due to his talent in water sports, Lin soon mastered the skills of jet surfing and the techniques required for electric surfboard maintenance.

"Every time after I jet surfed, many people on the beach would come up and ask me what I was using and how to ride it. So I thought it might be a good idea to start a jet surf club," he said.

In 2019, Lin opened a jet surfing club in his hometown of Tianya town, Sanya, and established the Hainan Jianjie Sports Company last year.

"Unlike regular surfing, jet surfing is a one-of-a-kind adventure. As a cool and adrenaline-fueled water sport, it's a new way of exploring the ocean and waves, despite flat water conditions," he said. "Even better, surfers can jet surf with several friends."

Jet surfing requires an electric surfboard — an amalgamation of a motor powered by lithium-ion batteries with a regular surfboard — capable of riding waves at a speed of up to about 56.3 kilometers per hour.

Lin surfs two to three hours each day. Sometimes he and his friends will jet surf 5 to 6 kilometers from the beach by the town to Sanya's West Island.

Due to electric surfboards' high speed and good mobility, Lin's club also set up a rescue volunteer team in the town in 2020.

"We are often on the beach or in the sea. So if an accident occurs, we can quickly ride on an electric surfboard to rescue people who are drowning and hopefully save lives," he said.

Thanks to Lin and his club's persistent efforts, jet surfing has become a tourism specialty in Tianya town. Now it has more than a dozen employees and 13 electric surfboards.

"We aim to provide tourists with brand-new water sports experiences and contribute to the development of the cultural and tourism industries of Tianya town," said Lin. "And we also hope to cultivate more topnotch local jet surfers."

This year his club was recognized as a national jet surfing training base by the General Administration of Sport of China.

To give back to his hometown and better promote the sport of jet surfing, Lin made his own personal investment by training professional athletes from 2021. So far, three of his students have become national first-class athletes.

His criteria for selecting young pros include their talent in swimming, physical fitness, a spirit of hard work and perseverance, and a willingness to learn. As teenagers need to be in school from Monday to Friday, Lin requires his trainees to keep a habit of doing daily physical training during their spare time, such as running more than 5 kilometers every day.

Lin's goal is to help his trainees win this year's national jet surfing championship.

"I want to get them well-prepared. When it comes to national or even international competitions, athletes will bend their electric surfboards and surf around various obstacles, all of which require excellent physical strength and strong willpower," he said.

Although surfing started late in China, Lin believes it has developed rapidly, especially among young people.

"As far as I know, at least in the category of jet surfing, we are close to the world's top level," he said.