Surf Cat

Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Khadjou Sambe never saw a Black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal’s first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves. (Image: Reuters)

Sambe surfs during a training session off the coast of Ngor, Dakar, Senegal. “When I am in the water I feel something extraordinary, something special in my heart,” said Sambe. (Image: Reuters)

Sambe surfs during a training session off the coast of Ngor, Dakar, Senegal. “I always think to myself, when I wake up in the morning, ‘Khadjou, you’ve got something to do, you represent something everywhere in the world, you must go straight to the point, don’t give up, whatever people say, whatever they say don’t listen, go forward so that everybody can get up and believe they can surf.” (Image: Reuters)

Sambe trains beginners with Black Girls Surf (BGS), a training school for girls and women who want to compete in professional surfing, on the sand at Yoff beach, in Dakar. (Image: Reuters)

Sambe said, “I would always see people surfing and I’d say to myself: but where are the girls who surf?” She said. “I thought: why don’t I go surfing, represent my country, represent Africa, and represent Senegal as a Black girl?” (Image: Reuters)

Sambe coaches young surfers during a fitness training session with BGS, a training school for girls and women who want to compete in professional surfing, in Ngor, Dakar. (Image: Reuters)

Sambe, Senegal’s first female professional surfer, and Rhonda Harper, the founder of BGS, a training school for girls and women who want to compete in professional surfing, teach a young surfer during a training session at Yoff district, Dakar. Sambe went to California in 2018 to train with BGS. (Image: Reuters)

Beginners learning how to surf, enter the sea during a training session coached by Sambe and Harper at Yoff district, Dakar. (Image: Reuters)

Sambe surfs with her friend Madicke Mbengue during a training session in Ngor, Dakar. (Image: Reuters)