Artificial Leg No Handicap To Young Christchurch Surfer

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31191, 15 October 1966, Page 11

Artificial Leg No Handicap To Young Christchurch Surfer

QURFING is a way of life for 16-year-old Phillip “Pip” Cheshire, a fifth form pupil at Christ’s College. In his leisure time, summer and winter, he can usually be found with his 9ft 4in fibre glass board riding the rollers at Sumner with his friends. But if you ever see him there and wonder at the unusual way he crouches on his board as he sweeps down a “curler,” take a closer look. If you wait long enough you may see him hop out of the surf and strap on an artificial leg which had been lying near the high water mark, for Pip Cheshire was born with the lower half of his right leg missing. To a lesser person such a disability would have been enough to discourage participation in active sport but Cheshire regards his artificial leg as something less than a handicap. “It is my only claim to fame,” he says. He was introduced to surf

board riding by a former New Zealand surf ski rescue champion, D. Quane, when he lived with his parents on the water front at Sumner. Quane built his first board for him, an Bft 9in fibre glass model, the first of its kind to be produced in Canterbury. At the time he was only 11 and one of the youngest participants in a sport just beginning to gather momentum. Since then Cheshire has spent every possible moment of his spare time at Sumner and has shown ability on his board which many other riders with both legs cannot surpass. His family has now moved into Christchurch but this has had no retarding effect on his enthusiasm. The surfing pictures which completely cover one wall of his bedroom are silent testimony to this. This summer he hopes to surf at many more beaches than he already has. He has explored 10 different beaches around Banks

Peninsula and is keen to try the surf in South Canterbury and up by Kaikoura. Strangely enough Cheshire does not have any interest in competitive surfing, although he plans to join one of the surf riding clubs which have sprung up around the Canterbury coasts in recent years. He surfs purely for enjoyment. “1 don’t think of it as a sport—more as a way of life,” he says. At present he has little other interest outside school.

Swimming is his main sport at Christ’s College and in spite of the fact that he uses only his arms for propulsion, he can move through the water with surprising speed. He has a best time for 440 yards of 6min 55sec and has represented the college at the sport

He has also tried his hand at other sports with considerable success. He has played indoor basketball in inter-house matches and has played “a bit of tennis.” “I can move quite fast over short distances,” he ex-

plains, “but I start to flake out after about 50 yards.” At one time Cheshire was a member of the Sumner Surf Life-Saving Club but was never particularly active. He took part in six-man team practices and entered a few surf faces but the difficulty of wading through shallow water discouraged him from continuing. The present board that Cheshire uses was built by Quane and is completely standard. “It hasn’t got a built-in wooden leg or any-

tiling like that,” he says. Surfing does not completely dominate his life. This year he will be sitting his School Certificate for the first time and hopes to become either an architect or an engineer.

Cheshire has given himself several frights in the last five years. He vividly remembers when he was in his first year at college and found the temptation of some 12ft rollers at Sumner too much. They had been caused by an easterly storm, followed by a strong southerly and from the beach looked very inviting.

Out the back of the surf the prospect was not nearly so exciting. He sat there for a considerable period waiting for the surf to die down. “I was terrified,” he freely admits. “Fortunately, I managed to get back to shore safely.” There has not been a surf as big since. Three years ago he was out on his board with friends when some persons

came running down to the water’s edge and shouted that there were sharks about With visions of porpoises in their minds, he and his friends laughed and continued surfing. Minutes later they saw a dark triangle fin speeding towards them from about 100 yards away. "We just made it to the beach in time,” he said. Now the stock reply if anyone asks too many questions about his missing leg Is: ‘lt was bitten off by a shark.”