Bondi, Sydney, November 24 – Byron Bay adaptive surfing pioneer Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart has been inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions, joining a select group of athletes recognised as the state’s greatest sporting performers.
He takes his place alongside Graham Arnold (football), Mo’onia Gerrard OAM (netball), Naazmi Johnston (gymnastics) and Ricky Stuart AM (rugby league), while netball legend Liz Ellis was elevated to Legend status at the same ceremony.
“I was surprised when I read the email”, reflected Mono. “I think there’s only six other surfers that have ever been inducted into this, people like Mark Richards, Mick Fanning and Steph, so to be on the same board as them, I’m over the moon”.
NSW Hall of Champions Committee Chair, Alan Whelpton AO, summed up the class of 2025 simply: “They have each reached the pinnacle in their chosen sport and paved the way for the next generation of athletes to aspire to reach greatness”.
For the surfing community in NSW – and especially on the Far North Coast – Mono’s induction is a powerful acknowledgement of a lifetime spent turning adversity into momentum, and using surfing as a platform for access, inclusion and high performance.
From Tasman Cup striker to adaptive surf champion
Long before world titles and perfect 10s, Stewart’s sporting dreams were built on a football pitch. As a teenager he was a star striker, representing Northern NSW in the Tasman Cup. A severe injury, followed by a diagnosis of osteosarcoma (bone cancer), led to the loss of his right leg at just 15.
Where many careers would have ended, Mono’s story with the ocean properly began. During long stretches of chemotherapy in Sydney he would return home to the Northern Rivers between treatment blocks and get back in the surf with the support of friends and family.
He had surfed a little before losing his leg, but it was only after his amputation that the ocean truly “beckoned”. He found a new lease on life in the water, eventually honing his craft at The Pass in Byron Bay and becoming a state kneeboard champion before the world of organised adaptive surfing even existed.
Building a global adaptive surfing legacy
When adaptive surfing finally began to formalise on the world stage, Mono was ready. He won the inaugural ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championships in 2015, locking in a place in history as one of the sport’s first global champions.
From there, the results stacked up at a pace few athletes in any discipline can match. Mono has collected:
- Eight Australian Adaptive Surfing Championships gold medals from 2016–2025
- An overall medal haul of 33 gold, seven silver and five bronze across national and international events
- Six world titles across ISA and AASP professional platforms
In 2021, at Pismo Beach in California, Mono became the world’s oldest Para Surfing champion, claiming the ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championships at 59 years of age – a landmark not just for him but for the entire discipline.
If there is a single performance that captures Mono’s competitive aura, it is the Japan Open in 2023. Surfing an Olympic-standard wave pool in Shizunami, Stewart posted two consecutive 10-point tube rides in the final to lock in a perfect 20-point heat total.
It was the first time an adaptive surfer had recorded a perfect score with two 10s in the final of an international event, and only the fourth time any surfer had achieved the feat at that level.
A beacon for the next wave of para surfers
Beyond the numbers, it is Mono’s attitude in and out of the water that makes his Hall of Champions induction feel so fitting. In past interviews he’s described surfing as a great equaliser – a place where it doesn’t matter whether you have one leg, use a wheelchair or are surfing prone, you still share the same line-up and the same joy.
For Surfing NSW, his journey mirrors the growth of adaptive and para surfing across the state: from a handful of pioneering competitors, to full national teams, dedicated events and a clear pathway for groms with disability who want to chase high performance or simply find their place in the ocean.
As Whelpton noted, the 2025 Hall of Champions inductees have all paved the way for others. In adaptive surfing, there are few characters more influential than Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart.
