Jocelyn Neumueller, 26, is SA’s first-ever world surfing champ, winning in California

A disabled surfer - who only recently took up the sport - has carved her name into the sport’s history books.

Jocelyn Neumueller is South Australia’s first surfing world champion.

The 26-year-old Adelaide surfer took out the women’s prone 2 category at the recent World Para Surfing Championship at Pismo Beach, California to claim the crown and write herself into the history books.

Neumueller, a former Paralympic kayaker who lost the use of her legs due to a childhood autoimmune condition, switched to surfing full-time in 2018 after a training injury robbed her of the use of one arm.

She is pushed on to waves by her team, and steers her modified board using her good arm.

She said it was a surreal feeling to beat competitors from Australia, Spain and the UK to clinch the world title heat.

“Going over there I knew what the team and I were capable of, but I don’t think we expected to actually get the win,” Neumueller said.

“I guess we’ve set ourselves some high standards for the future.”

SA world champion disabled surfer Jocelyn Neumueller at Pismo Beach, California. Pictures: Supplied

Neumueller said that she, and the team that helps her to catch waves, faced challenging conditions at the Central California location.

“It was a very tidal break,” she said.

“We weren’t really aware of that going in, and the tides were having a huge impact on the swell throughout the day. It was small at the start of the competition, but we got bigger, more favourable conditions on finals day.”

Now back in Australia, Neumueller said she was keen to defend her title in the future, but in the meantime she would concentrate on pushing herself into bigger, more challenging waves in more remote parts of South Australia.

She’s also working with Surfing South Australia to create new pathways for disabled surfers to participate and compete in the sport.