Episode 13 - Meet Aksinia Semenova and her view on Rapid Surfing – as Competitor & Judge

I still remember the first time I watched Aksinia surf. It was at the Rapid Surf League Hasewelle Pro/Am in Osnabrück in 2024, and I was pretty impressed. She was someone I hadn’t come across in the Rapid Surfing scene before, putting down some really solid surfing.

Aksinia Semenova is from Russia and started Rapid Surfing at just 13 years old. When she first watched rapid surf competitions in Europe, she set herself the goal of one day being part of that community. And she made it happen. She quickly established herself in the European contest scene, becoming one of the first women I’d seen landing Shuvits in competition — and doing so with impressive consistency.

But Aksinia’s journey into the European Rapid Surfing scene didn’t stop at competing. After an injury forced her to take a break from surfing, she unexpectedly found herself on the other side of the sport, stepping into the role of a judge. What started as an unexpected detour became another way for her to get involved in rapid surfing and gain a whole new perspective on the sport.

In this episode, we talk about growing up in a smaller Rapid Surfing scene, finding inspiration through social media, and making the move to compete in Europe. We also get into how judging has changed the way she thinks about surfing, contest strategy and her own approach to competition.