Who am I?
Hi. I’m Miguel Longo, I'm from Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. I was born without any bones of the knee to the foot in my right leg and so the doctors preferred to amputate my right leg. It was amputated when I was about 2 years old. I started to use a prosthetic leg in 1998, was a leg that did not bend, much like dolls legs. I grew up using this type of prosthesis until my nine years when I got the SUS gift (which is a national public health program in Brazil) a better prosthesis. I practiced many sports before I start the surf, practiced football, swimming, badminton, skate and finally arrived in the surf, swimming I practice today, but I can say that my favorite sport is undoubtedly the surf. I started surfing in 2013, the same year as I entered college (Fundação Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste - UEZO) and was very good, as people began to take an interest in sport and the disabled person because I spoke to them about this. I currently surf with a prosthetic leg or knee.
ADAPTSURF
I did not get to surf alone, I learned to surf with a very special people! The ADAPTSURF provided me with all that magical moment of my life! Let us know a little about ADAPTSURF. Founded in 2007, ADAPTSURF is a non-profit association that promotes the social inclusion of people with disabilities or reduced mobility, ensuring equal opportunities and access to leisure, sport and culture, through direct contact with nature. Our proposal is to develop and disseminate adaptive surfing, fighting for preservation and improvements in the accessibility of beaches. We believe that the surf can be an excellent tool in the social, cultural and environmental issues because it is a healthy sport, democratic and full interaction with nature.
My wins in the surf
In 2013 I was honored as the ADAPTSURF revelation of the year. In 2014 he competed in the National Surf Circuit Adapted on the beach in Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro. I was second in the category S2 (surf knees) losing to the surfer Paulo Ricardo turned the battery on his last wave. In 2016 I won my first adapted surfing championship, was at the Circuit Adaptsurf 2016 organized by ADAPTSURF and the Surfing Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FESERJ), I was champion in category Stand winning the last wave by only 0:02 points difference! In the category S1 competed against two great surfers and was in second place! Losing to the surfer from Florianopolis, Robson Gasperi. But got the last wave leaving the third place to second place, overtaking the founder of the Adaptsurf Henrique Saraiva, a big idol for me, a great surfer who already competed in the ISA WORLD SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP ADAPTIVE! I was very happy with my results and I thank God for all this. I apologize for bad English, but I had to share my story with you all. A big hug.
