International Surfing Association

Surfing is governed by the International Surfing Association (ISA), founded in 1964. The organization, which was originally named the International Surfing Federation (ISF) between 1964 and 1973, has 117 member national federations as of January 2026. The ISA is presided over by Argentina’s Fernando Aguerre, and its headquarters are located in Cardiff, California, United States.

The ISA governs and defines surfing as “Shortboard, Longboard & Bodyboarding, StandUp Paddle (SUP) Racing and Surfing, Para-Surfing, Bodysurfing, Wakesurfing, and all other wave riding activities on any type of waves, and on flat water using wave riding equipment”. Although the sport has never appeared at the Paralympics, its governance of Para-surfing has led to the ISA becoming an International Paralympic Committee (IPC)-recognized federation.

The federation crowned its first men and women World Champions in 1964 in Sydney, Australia. It holds several global events among its disciplines, crowning the first big wave World champion in 1965, the first World longboard surfing and World bodyboard champions in 1988, and the first World Para surfing champions in 2015, to name a few.

Surfing made its Olympic début on 25 July 2021, at the Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Tokyo, Japan, at the 2020 Games. To date, shortboard has been the only ISA’s discipline contested at the Olympic level.