When you know who you are, external pressures, judgments and projected opinions don’t seem to matter as much.
Surfing is a unique sport in that you can enjoy it without competition. I’m no longer a competitive surfer, but I still surf all the time, so my connection with the sport is still incredibly strong. I don’t miss competition and I don’t miss the anxiety and weight of expectation that surrounds being at an event. Just being in the water and enjoying my surfing is enough.
The best way to learn is by making mistakes. Some of the World Tour athletes today might make a mistake in a heat, but they can always correct themselves and fight their way out of a bad situation. I love seeing that. I love seeing the battle.
The improvements in women’s professional surfing have been dramatic. There’s more prize money, recognition, acceptance and opportunities for women within the industry. It has been incredibly profound to see how much the WSL has invested in women’s surfing. But there’s always room for improvement and there are still some antiquated, deep-seated beliefs that sometimes hold women back in surfing. Also, prize money is getting towards parity but sponsorship is not. If the industry wants to be considered progressive, why aren’t they paying the number one girl what they’re paying the number one man?
This story is from the Volume 59, Issue 3 edition of Surfer.
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This story is from the Volume 59, Issue 3 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
60 Years Ahead
We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that
For Generations to Come
Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice
Christina Koch, 41
Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public
What They Don't Tell You
How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?
Four Things to Make You Feel A Little Less Shitty About Everything
Helpful reminders for the quarantine era
The Art of Being Seen
How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible
