From a Bali holiday to the Asian Games: Camille Spaccarotella’s surfing journey

Camille Spaccarotella discovered surfing through a hotel lesson during a family holiday in Seminyak, Bali, when she was about 10. The experience turned family trips into opportunities to surf and eventually led her toward competitive training—largely outside Singapore, where suitable natural surf spots are limited. 124

Learning to compete without regular waves at home

Spaccarotella grew up in Singapore, but Bali became a recurring place to practise. Channel NewsAsia reported that she now spends up to four months a year training there and has also competed elsewhere in Asia. Singapore’s limited surfing conditions made those overseas trips an important part of her development. 14

Progress was not uninterrupted. Her first competition, a small charity event in Bali when she was 14, was affected by nerves and inexperience. The COVID-19 pandemic later disrupted her training. During that pause, she and her family came across surfers at Longkang Point on Singapore’s east coast—a reminder that a local surfing community existed even without the consistent waves she sought abroad. 1

The Asian Games breakthrough

A report on her qualification says Spaccarotella secured Singapore’s first Asian Games surfing place in 2024. She was entered in women’s shortboard for the 2026 Aichi–Nagoya Games, where surfing joined the programme for the first time. The competition in Tahara, Japan, was scheduled to begin on September 25. 19

Her stated competitive goal is a podium finish. She has also said she hopes her journey will encourage a new generation to pick up a surfboard in Singapore. That is an aspiration rather than a documented programme or measurable target for growing the sport at home. The provided sources establish her selection and goal, but do not verify a final result from Tahara. 789