In 2021, Ben Cashin was working as a news camera operator, covering the Olympic Games in Japan. For the Deakin journalism student, the highlight was covering the first ever Olympic surfing competition and to be on the sand when Owen Wright made history, becoming Australia’s first Olympic surfing medalist. In this feature-length story, and on the eve of the Paris Olympic Games, he looks back at that time:

As I watch Bianca Buitendag and Carissa Moore approach the shore, calm blankets the black sands of Tsurigasaki Beach, Chiba, Japan. Covid restrictions mean fans are not present to witness the final ride of the competition. It will be a ride that determines which woman’s name will be forever etched into surfing history as its first female Olympic gold medallist.

Rather than the cheering of fans, the momentous occasion is instead soundtracked by the drowning sounds of Higurashi cicadas. Their gentle hum plays bass to the Pacific Ocean, sparked to life thanks to a strong typhoon off the coast of Japan. For a sport so entwined with nature, the climax is to be witnessed only by the sand, the ocean and the privileged few present. Fortune has it, one of them is me. A rainbow emerges from behind dark clouds as the two run into the water and paddle to the break.

Like many, this was my first time attending a surfing event. Covering for 7News as a camera operator, the challenges of working from the sands was a new experience. As the world’s media struggled through the challenging conditions of a Japanese summer, one man appeared unphased by the heat. If it wasn’t the man’s get-up – a dark violet polo, board shorts and designer cap – that caught my attention, it was undoubtedly his rapport with the athletes.

“G’day Sal”, Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore shouts to grab the man’s attention, eager to catch up with an obvious dear friend. That friend was Selema ‘Sal’ Masekela, one of the most authoritative voices in action sports, with his passion and heart entrenched in surfing. Masekela has travelled the world covering surfing and was in Japan reporting on the event for NBC. He spoke with me later from his home in California to share his thoughts on if surfing had found a home at the Olympics. “I’ve never seen athletes that driven at a surf contest in my life,” Masekela said. “The stakes of the world watching were to be felt, and the sense of pride, it raised the stakes immensely, and it was so exciting to see the way the athletes passionately threw themselves into this thing.”

The poster sport for counter-culture, surfing has long been guarded by those who live the endless pursuit of waves. Masekela remarks that its move from beyond the break and into the Olympic spotlight was met with mixed enthusiasm. “For a lot of hardcore surfers, the idea of surfing being in the Olympics was sacrilegious, and people voiced it as such,” he says. The debate on whether surfing should be an Olympic sport was divisive. Although the athleticism performed cannot be denied, the continual mainstreaming went against the rebellious ideals of the sport that many first gravitated to. However, the movement to make surfing an Olympic sport had strong supporters, including Masekela. “Once the hardcore, ‘this is treason’ folks piped down and the athletes started getting excited about it, I think the tide kind of turned, ” he said.

Surfing’s history dates back thousands of years, with the islands of Hawaii being marked as surfing’s birthplace. Locals would recreationally ride waves throughout the day. The relationship between sport, religion, myth, family, nature, and all other aspects of life was entwined in surfing. It was an obsession, a lifestyle, and the same all-encompassing enthusiasm has been a cornerstone of surfing culture ever since. “People are curious about the culture,” Masekela said. “Surfing has always been something that’s aspirational. People always have their feet in the sand and look very happy. How do I get a piece of that?”

When Masekela arrived at Tsurigasaki Beach on the first day of competition, he found himself among a wave of the world’s media, all trying to get their piece. “It was so exciting to see writers, sportswriters and journalists from literally every sector of the earth there and aggressively covering surfing,” he said.

It was not just the media who had latched onto surfing. With no fans present, the atmosphere was created by those working there. “One of my favourite moments, was when once we got into the knockout stages, the Japanese volunteers would form on the bluff and they would form a crowd,” Masekela said. “You could tell it wasn’t coordinated and they would cheer for the person who had made it, and they would also clap and aggressively honour some who lost, to the point where that person who was clearly dejected had to stop and take it in. It was very much an expression of love and honour. It was doubly amplified for the local surfers but the sense of humble pride that they had was truly very special, one of my favourite memories of the event.”

Masekela believes the competition produced some of the best surfing he has seen over his many years covering the sport. For it to be at an Olympic games is something he never thought he would see. “I remember when Fernando Aguerre in the mid-’90s first started campaigning for it (Olympic surfing), people thought he was legitimately crazy and were not afraid to say it to his face. He used to walk down the hallways of the trade shows with a big sign and a bullhorn, ‘HELP GET SURFING TO THE OLYMPICS!’”

The International Surfing Association (ISA) President and owner/founder of Reef clothing, Arguerre has immersed himself in the sport he loves throughout his entire life. Inspired by the words of surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku, who first dreamt of surfing being recognised as an Olympic sport, Arguerre began his campaign in 1996. Finally, 20 years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally included surfing in the Sports Programme for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Arguerre spoke to me from his home in Southern California post event. “Through all the hurdles with thousands of naysayers and haters, it’s like big waves; you just put your head down and paddle harder,” he said. “So the three days were just amazing days. The best days of my life, really.”

Aguerre spoke of the sport, event and competitors as if they were all his family. Gleaming with pride and positivity, his passion is infectious and he happily shares his Olympic experience. “Just to give you an idea, the President of the IOC was supposed to come for an hour visit and lunch with me on the third and final day,” he said. “He spent three hours on the beach and left the beach doing the Shaka and telling people Aloha. I mean isn’t that amazing?”

Arguerre spoke of the disappointment of not being able to share the moment with family and friends. “I mean not even the wife of the president of the ISA was allowed in Japan, ” he said.

For the surfing community of Chiba, the decision to not permit people to attend was devastating. The Chiba prefecture is a sleepy coastal community which runs along the eastern coast of Japan. The streets are lined with restaurants, surf stores and other small businesses.

Ben Wei lives and works in Chiba, manufacturing custom surfboards under his Neptune brand. “For everyone who lived here, everyone thought it was a big money-making opportunity,” Wei said. It wasn’t just existing businesses — Japan spent more than $15 billion in the lead up to the Games and Wei noticed that in his community. “Leading up to it there was certainly a lot of new cafes, surf hotels and things like that being made, ” he said. Regardless of the disappointment of those unable to attend, Wei believes the event will be remembered as a success, with economic benefits going beyond the Games. “I’ve noticed just after the Olympics there’s a huge market in this town and it’s becoming like a fashionable beach town for the city to come and visit,” he said. “It seems like the movement after the Olympics has all been super positive”.

Despite the implications of a global pandemic, the event was still hailed as a success. Surfing grabbed the attention of its global audience. In a press conference during the games, IOC managing director of television and marketing services Timo Lumme stated that the new sports such as skateboarding and surfing lifted the Olympic Games viewership. Sports more commonly associated with the X games were now bringing the X factor to the Olympic games.

Arguerre agrees: “For me, around the world but most importantly, the IOC was super excited. I mean there were so many positives. Everything was incredible. So I am very happy and went home super satisfied. I spent the next three days going to other events and the presidents of other federations were talking about how wonderful the surfing experience was.”

With the games embracing its newest event, Masekela sees only positives for surfing moving forward after its Olympic exposure. “I think it created new fans,” he said. “I talked to Carissa Moore and seeing her following now. It’s inspiring a bunch of young women and people who have never been in the ocean but get a sense of who she is as an athlete and want to cheer for her in the same way someone who has never picked up a tennis racquet would support Serena Williams and I think that’s what is really exciting. ”

For many, the Olympics provided their first real taste of surfing. Looking forward to Paris 2024, Masekela believes we will see a new involvement of interest. “Now that you have the Kanoa Igarashi and people like Carissa that became household names, the interest next time around, people are going to be educated and excited to get behind their favourite surfers.”

Arguerre agrees. The man whose life and legacy are forever engrained in surfing, and now Olympic history, has finally achieved what he set out to do more than 25 years on. For him, the next 25 years are simple. “There’s going to be surfing in LA, there’s going to be surfing in Tahiti and there’s going to be surfing in your own country in 2032, and for the rest of my life I’m going to be just watching from the beach, but isn’t that amazing? It’s all in the cards for us.”

• Surfing is set to make its second appearance at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, with the event to be held in Tahiti.