Byron Bay's adaptive surfing champion Mark "Mono" Stewart has made history by scoring two perfect rides in the final of the Japan Open.
The 61-year-old received 10 out of 10 for consecutive tube rides — winning his division in Shizunami on Monday with a score of 20.
Japanese competitor Shumei Hata took out second place in the division with a score of 14.07, while Masayoshi Kobayashi, also from Japan, claimed third place with a score of 11.5.
The competition was held in a wave pool built in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics.
Games organisers eventually decided to hold the Olympic surfing competition in the ocean, but Stewart said pools were ideal for adaptive competition.
"Nothing will replace the ocean, and I was sceptical at first, but after competing in a few in different ones around the world I've sort of changed my attitude totally," Stewart said.
"To watch quadriplegics be able to get themselves in the water at a pool and surf these waves in a controlled environment, it's a huge part of the future of the sport.
"We had people coming up to us … mothers crying because they were just so overwhelmed and overjoyed at what they'd seen.
"What we've done in the last three or four days has really promoted the adaptive movement … and made the disabled people here in Japan feel more proud."
'It was just insane'
Stewart rarely ventured into the ocean before he lost his leg to bone cancer as a teenager.
He learned to surf at The Pass in Byron Bay, where his ability to ride deep in the tube allowed him to catch many waves from behind the rocks at the tip of the famous point break.
He put those skills to great use in the Japanese wave pool.
"Once you take off you've really got to read the wave, and my first two rides I was really looking for a tube because nobody had got one," he said.
"I remember looking out and just seeing this wall of blue water and I could actually hear noise while I was in there.
"I could hear people yelling, it was just insane.
"And then to come out, I was stoked mate, it was frigging awesome!"
