Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 181. Carissa Moore, Pro Surfer & Olympic Gold Medalist

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181. Carissa Moore, Pro Surfer & Olympic Gold Medalist · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: In the past, when I have stipped outside my comfort
0:02
Speaker 1: zone and I have pushed past my boundaries, that's when,
0:05
Speaker 1: like it's the most rewarding and the most satisfying, and
0:07
Speaker 1: that's usually when you learn the most.
0:24
Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Emily a body here coming to you live
0:27
Speaker 2: from the AG studio and you are listening to Hurdle,
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Speaker 2: a wellness focused podcast where I connect with everyone from
0:33
Speaker 2: your favorite athletes to top experts and industry CEOs about
0:37
Speaker 2: their highest highs, toughest moments, and everything in between. We
0:41
Speaker 2: all go through hurdles in life, and my goal through
0:44
Speaker 2: these discussions is to empower you to better navigate yours
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Speaker 2: and move with intentions so that you can stride towards
0:51
Speaker 2: your own big potential and of course have some fun
0:55
Speaker 2: along the way. This week, I am chatting with Carissa More.
1:00
Speaker 2: She is a pro surfer, a five time world champion
1:04
Speaker 2: and the gold.
1:06
Speaker 3: Medal winner from Tokyo.
1:08
Speaker 2: Her energy is so bright and just infectious to say
1:13
Speaker 2: the least. Carissa and I talk about so many things
1:17
Speaker 2: in today's episode, from her upbringing on Hawaii and learning
1:20
Speaker 2: to surf with her dad at just four or five
1:23
Speaker 2: years old, to all of the hard work and indication
1:27
Speaker 2: that went into her sport, getting her to that massive
1:31
Speaker 2: stage at the Olympics.
1:33
Speaker 3: We talk about the nerves that she.
1:35
Speaker 2: Feels every single time she gets in the water, even today,
1:39
Speaker 2: and how being in the ocean is the most beautiful
1:43
Speaker 2: ultimate form of self care for her. We also talk
1:47
Speaker 2: about what self care looks like for her outside of
1:50
Speaker 2: being in the water, as well as what a regular
1:53
Speaker 2: week of training looks like and how she prioritizes her recovery.
1:58
Speaker 3: Plus the Hurdle Moment.
1:59
Speaker 2: Which was a two to three year period where she
2:02
Speaker 2: was coming back to her foundations and identifying her why
2:05
Speaker 2: behind surfing, and how she navigated the COVID nineteen pandemic
2:10
Speaker 2: in the build up to an Olympic year. Again, such
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Speaker 2: good vibes from this combo, and so grateful to Carissa
2:17
Speaker 2: and her sponsor at Aura for hooking us up. I
2:20
Speaker 2: am so grateful for it. Make sure you're following along
2:23
Speaker 2: with Hurdle on social media. It's at Hurdle Podcast, I
2:27
Speaker 2: am over at Emily a Body and if you're local
2:29
Speaker 2: to New York and want to have a good time
2:31
Speaker 2: tomorrow night, I am going live at Hugs seventeen inside
2:35
Speaker 2: Lululemon on fifth avenue, Verse seven PM, hosting a conversation
2:39
Speaker 2: about the hurdles that we face on the run leading
2:42
Speaker 2: up to the November seventh New York City Marathon. I
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Speaker 2: am so so excited. Link for tickets is in the
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Speaker 2: show notes. With that, let's get to hurdling today, I'm
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Speaker 2: sitting down with Carissa More. She is a five time
3:03
Speaker 2: world champion, Olympic gold medalist surfer.
3:07
Speaker 3: How you do in Gorisa, I'm did great.
3:09
Speaker 1: How are you?
3:10
Speaker 3: I'm so good?
3:11
Speaker 2: That's never going to get old, is it.
3:14
Speaker 1: It sounds pretty nice, that's for sure.
3:18
Speaker 2: So this was the first year that surfing was in
3:20
Speaker 2: the Olympics. It's kind of crazy.
3:23
Speaker 1: It was a big moment for surfing. Just to be
3:26
Speaker 1: able to surf and compete on that level, on that
3:29
Speaker 1: world stage. It just felt bigger, It felt more special.
3:33
Speaker 1: It was great to be a part of the US
3:35
Speaker 1: team and compete for something that was bigger than just
3:37
Speaker 1: myself for the first time. I really enjoyed the whole experience.
3:41
Speaker 2: Talk to me about how they grade how you do
3:45
Speaker 2: surfing when it comes to the Olympics.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, so Olympic Olympics were scored pretty normal to you know,
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Speaker 1: our normal competitions, we are competed on a scale of speed, power,
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Speaker 1: and flow. Each wave is get one to ten points,
4:02
Speaker 1: ten being the best one obviously being not so good,
4:05
Speaker 1: and you're you get you get scored on your two
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Speaker 1: best waves, so total out of twenty And yeah, it's
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Speaker 1: just your combination of major maneuvers and how critical you
4:14
Speaker 1: do it in which sections and stuff like that. So, uh,
4:17
Speaker 1: pretty pretty normal to what we're used to.
4:20
Speaker 3: Wow. So during competition, how many waves could you catch?
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Speaker 1: I I don't really know, but you were usually given
4:27
Speaker 1: a timeframe of about thirty minutes to catch two really
4:32
Speaker 1: good waves, So I don't know, I don't ever really
4:35
Speaker 1: catch probably more than like ten, because you are looking
4:39
Speaker 1: at the waves that are coming in and trying to
4:41
Speaker 1: like use your time wisely. If you wanted, you could
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Speaker 1: probably catch everything in sight for the for those thirty minutes,
4:47
Speaker 1: but you try to you try to be smart about it.
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Speaker 2: Totally, totally. What were the waves like over there?
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Speaker 1: The waves in Japan were some of the most difficult
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Speaker 1: conditions I've ever competed in. Really, yes, because in Japan,
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Speaker 1: in order to get good waves, you need a typhoon,
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Speaker 1: and a typhoon is that you know, is a storm
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Speaker 1: that is not very far offshore, and so with it
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Speaker 1: comes weather. And when we competed, it was literally it
5:17
Speaker 1: felt like victory at sea. It was storm surf. There
5:19
Speaker 1: were like white caps and water everywhere, and the waves
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Speaker 1: were big and the current was strong, and it was
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Speaker 1: very hard to find any organization at all out there.
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Speaker 1: It makes sense out of it, But I think that's
5:30
Speaker 1: kind of what made it fun, I guess. And it
5:34
Speaker 1: was quite challenging.
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Speaker 2: Wow, you're a particular kind of person to say that
5:38
Speaker 2: it is. It was a bit fun to deal with
5:42
Speaker 2: like these obscene, stormy conditions. And of course we'll kind
5:46
Speaker 2: of get back into your backstory and talk about how
5:48
Speaker 2: you got to be this kind of person.
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Speaker 3: But when did you start surfing?
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Speaker 1: I started surfing when I was about four or five
5:56
Speaker 1: years old here in Honolulu on the South shovel who
6:00
Speaker 1: at Waikiki Beach with my dad.
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Speaker 2: So born and raised in Hawaii, Yes, yes, born and
6:05
Speaker 2: raised in Hawaii. And when you started surfing, was this
6:08
Speaker 2: like you saw your dad doing it and you were like,
6:10
Speaker 2: I need to get in the water, or was he like, Okay,
6:12
Speaker 2: it's time that you try this.
6:14
Speaker 1: You know. So my dad wasn't born and bred into
6:17
Speaker 1: competitive surfing. He was. He was a waterman. He loved
6:20
Speaker 1: the ocean. He was actually a competitive ocean water swimmer,
6:24
Speaker 1: and he just like loved the ocean, and it was
6:27
Speaker 1: he just wanted to share his love for the ocean
6:29
Speaker 1: with me. And that's kind of how it started. There
6:31
Speaker 1: wasn't like this grand scheme of like, okay, like let's
6:35
Speaker 1: win world titles and be the best in the world.
6:36
Speaker 1: It was kind of just what we did together. And
6:39
Speaker 1: it was that love and that passion that grew eventually
6:43
Speaker 1: into a competitive fire.
6:45
Speaker 3: Wow. So when did you start competing professionally?
6:48
Speaker 1: I started competing. Well, it's it's interesting because growing up
6:53
Speaker 1: in my amateur career, I actually did like a couple
6:56
Speaker 1: trials which would get you into like main events, Championship
7:00
Speaker 1: Tour event. So I wasn't but I didn't start competing
7:03
Speaker 1: full time as a professional until I think I was sixteen,
7:07
Speaker 1: which was my junior year in high school, and that
7:09
Speaker 1: was when I started competing on the qualifying series to
7:13
Speaker 1: qualify for the Championship Tour.
7:15
Speaker 2: My senior year, I've surfed a handful of times, I
7:17
Speaker 2: would say, like maybe maybe two hands worth, and it
7:21
Speaker 2: certainly has a big learning curve right in that it's
7:26
Speaker 2: one thing if you want to go out for a run,
7:29
Speaker 2: right and like anyone can just get up and go
7:31
Speaker 2: out for a run, but surfing isn't exactly like that.
7:36
Speaker 2: So for you at first, did you find it intimidating?
7:39
Speaker 2: Did you feel like did you feel like you excelled
7:41
Speaker 2: at it right away?
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Speaker 1: You know, it's been it's been a while since I
7:45
Speaker 1: first started surfing, so I don't remember all the feels
7:48
Speaker 1: in the very beginning, but yeah, I just I mean,
7:52
Speaker 1: I don't ever remember being scared because I had my
7:55
Speaker 1: dad with me all the time and he was like
7:58
Speaker 1: he just always made me feel safe, so it was
8:00
Speaker 1: always fun. I'm not gonna lie. I still always get
8:03
Speaker 1: scared when the waves are big. Like, I don't think
8:06
Speaker 1: the fear or the nervousness ever goes away, but it
8:10
Speaker 1: helps to keep you on your toes.
8:12
Speaker 2: You know, that's so interesting though, that perspective, right, because
8:16
Speaker 2: you've been doing this for so long, you're a five
8:18
Speaker 2: tide world champion, you're gold medalist now, but you still
8:22
Speaker 2: admit to being like getting those butterflies and getting scared.
8:25
Speaker 2: And I think that sometimes people just assume that someone
8:27
Speaker 2: at your caliber wouldn't necessarily feel those things.
8:30
Speaker 3: That it would just be like, eh, I got this
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Speaker 3: all the time.
8:33
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, No way, I get scared all the time.
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Speaker 1: I think, especially when it gets past a certain wave
8:41
Speaker 1: height or if I'm going out to a new break
8:43
Speaker 1: for the first time. Definitely like those moments where I
8:47
Speaker 1: have to step outside my comfort zone and go into
8:49
Speaker 1: uncharted territory, Like, the fear definitely sets in and I
8:53
Speaker 1: have to It takes a couple deep breasts. It takes
8:56
Speaker 1: you know, I have my support team and the people
8:58
Speaker 1: that ground me and make me feel calm, and then
9:00
Speaker 1: I just try to rely on ability and knowing that like, hey,
9:04
Speaker 1: in the past, when I have stepped outside my comfort
9:07
Speaker 1: zone and I have pushed past my boundaries, that's when,
9:09
Speaker 1: like it's the most rewarding and the most satisfying, and
9:12
Speaker 1: that's usually when you learn the most. So I try
9:15
Speaker 1: to look at that and that helps me overcome it.
9:19
Speaker 2: I guess could you recall some of maybe your earlier
9:22
Speaker 2: surfing memories when you were tossed around and made to
9:28
Speaker 2: feel a little bit like am I doing the right
9:32
Speaker 2: thing here?
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Speaker 1: I do remember one in particular, where I was still
9:36
Speaker 1: on a soft top and my dad was still pushing
9:39
Speaker 1: me into waves and he told me to jump off
9:42
Speaker 1: before I reached the sand, but I didn't. I didn't
9:45
Speaker 1: listen to him, and I went straight into the sand.
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Speaker 1: My board overturned. It cut my shin up and I
9:51
Speaker 1: was just horrified, having blood run down my leg, and
9:53
Speaker 1: I was like, what is like? What was going on?
9:55
Speaker 1: And Dad is like, you should have listen. You should
9:58
Speaker 1: listen to listen.
10:00
Speaker 2: So you get into serving your junior year of high school,
10:04
Speaker 2: what happens for you from there? Do you think that
10:06
Speaker 2: I'm going to take this really really competitively or do
10:10
Speaker 2: you go to college?
10:10
Speaker 3: How does that pan out?
10:12
Speaker 1: Going to school was super important to me, and it
10:15
Speaker 1: was very important to my parents that I graduated high school.
10:18
Speaker 1: So I feel very fortunate. I went to put a
10:20
Speaker 1: Host School, which is one of, I think one of
10:22
Speaker 1: the best schools in the nation, and they just did
10:26
Speaker 1: a really great job helping me balance school life and
10:30
Speaker 1: competing on the Championship Tour. My senior year, I definitely
10:33
Speaker 1: missed like a couple events, I missed prom, but those
10:37
Speaker 1: sacrifices were really worth it. Like the experiences that I
10:40
Speaker 1: got on tour and traveling that year on my rookie
10:42
Speaker 1: season are really invaluable the lessons that I learned. I
10:45
Speaker 1: ended up missing one event on the Championship Tour for
10:48
Speaker 1: my graduation, and then afterwards I went all in, all
10:52
Speaker 1: in for competitive serving all in.
10:55
Speaker 2: When you started competing on the professional circuit, do you
11:00
Speaker 2: remember anything that was unexpected or something that you didn't
11:04
Speaker 2: anticipate getting into it?
11:06
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, my rookie season was kind of like, wait,
11:11
Speaker 1: what did I just get myself into? I felt like
11:15
Speaker 1: it was really kind of hard to like be on
11:18
Speaker 1: the road and go to consecutive events and not have
11:22
Speaker 1: the familiarity of like my home and like being grounded
11:26
Speaker 1: all the time with home and all of my family
11:29
Speaker 1: and all my friends. I like found myself like, of
11:31
Speaker 1: course I had my dad or my coach with me,
11:33
Speaker 1: but it wasn't the same, and so just kind of
11:36
Speaker 1: like finding where I belonged on tour, but then still
11:39
Speaker 1: like as a teenager, just figuring out who I am
11:42
Speaker 1: and who I was and where I belonged. So there
11:46
Speaker 1: was just a lot of growth, and then you know,
11:48
Speaker 1: just the caliber of surfing and talent on the tour
11:52
Speaker 1: and competing with everybody was. It felt like a steep
11:55
Speaker 1: learning curve. I really sucked my first few events on tour.
12:00
Speaker 1: I think I got last place in my first two events.
12:03
Speaker 1: It wasn't until the third event that I finally found
12:04
Speaker 1: my groove.
12:05
Speaker 2: It's so interesting that you that you say like I
12:08
Speaker 2: was coming into my own which is so true because
12:11
Speaker 2: for so many at that age, perhaps you're going to college,
12:14
Speaker 2: perhaps you're getting your first job. It's like a huge,
12:18
Speaker 2: huge moment for your personal growth. So to be going
12:21
Speaker 2: through this moment and to have so much instability in
12:24
Speaker 2: your life, I would imagine couldn't have been easy.
12:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was definitely a little challenging. I think on
12:32
Speaker 1: a personal side, there was definitely stuff going on with
12:34
Speaker 1: my family at the same time that was challenging. So
12:37
Speaker 1: but what was really beautiful is I felt like as
12:41
Speaker 1: much as like I was it was a bit rocky.
12:44
Speaker 1: Being in the ocean gave me stability. That was the
12:46
Speaker 1: one place that I like felt like myself. And when
12:49
Speaker 1: I finally like found my groove, it felt really good.
12:52
Speaker 1: But it was cool like all my friends, I felt
12:54
Speaker 1: like I had a really good group of friends that
12:57
Speaker 1: were genuinely there for me, like they skyped me before
12:59
Speaker 1: they would to prom and stuff, and just having people
13:03
Speaker 1: that like understood the schedule and the sacrifices that it
13:07
Speaker 1: goes into being a professional athlete, it really meant a
13:11
Speaker 1: lot to me.
13:12
Speaker 2: What was it like for you traveling at that time?
13:15
Speaker 2: Were you in and out of a bunch of hotel rooms?
13:18
Speaker 2: Where was the money coming from to support you on this?
13:22
Speaker 1: Well? I feel very, very fortunate because I've had an
13:25
Speaker 1: incredible family ohana of sponsors for a very long time
13:30
Speaker 1: that have backed me and given me a platform to
13:33
Speaker 1: really chase my dreams without the pressure of like you
13:36
Speaker 1: need to get a result. So it was great. I've
13:38
Speaker 1: been with Red Bull and Hurly since since I was
13:42
Speaker 1: on tour, and so definitely having their backing helped support
13:48
Speaker 1: me my travels and my dreams. And then my dad,
13:52
Speaker 1: my og, he's been there since the beginning and he
13:55
Speaker 1: still works with me all the time at home, and
13:59
Speaker 1: he was traveling with me, and yeah, it was yeah,
14:03
Speaker 1: hotel rooms, living out of his suitcase, maybe some airbnbs
14:07
Speaker 1: and house rented and yeah.
14:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I uh, It's interesting, right because I have a
14:13
Speaker 2: really good relationship with my dad, but sometimes, like I mean,
14:17
Speaker 2: I've never had to spend endless, endless amounts of time
14:20
Speaker 2: with him. But I try to put myself in your
14:23
Speaker 2: shoes and think about what that experience and going through
14:27
Speaker 2: these things together could have been like for you. What
14:30
Speaker 2: would you say was the best part about it?
14:33
Speaker 3: And what would you say was the worst part about it.
14:36
Speaker 1: That's a very complicated question because I feel like there's
14:40
Speaker 1: so many like nuances to the relationship I have with
14:43
Speaker 1: my dad. It's it's so beautiful. I wouldn't trade it
14:46
Speaker 1: for anything in the world, like getting to share this
14:49
Speaker 1: journey with him. I mean it's like I would, Yeah,
14:53
Speaker 1: it's I would never trade it in for anything. And
14:56
Speaker 1: though it has been hard at times, I think the
14:58
Speaker 1: hardest part is separating Dad's voice from Coach's voice and
15:03
Speaker 1: knowing when to like, because a lot of the time
15:08
Speaker 1: in the beginning we brought it home, and I think
15:11
Speaker 1: now we're learning how to like give it five to
15:14
Speaker 1: ten minutes at the beach and then we're done, and
15:16
Speaker 1: I think that was probably challenging. I think he also
15:21
Speaker 1: knows how to push my buttons better than anyone else,
15:24
Speaker 1: which is a pro anacon because he's gotten me to
15:27
Speaker 1: this whole nother level that I didn't think I could reach.
15:29
Speaker 1: But at the same time it was kind of upsetting
15:33
Speaker 1: and got me so frustrated at times. But I think
15:36
Speaker 1: the whole journey has really brought us close together, and
15:39
Speaker 1: he's one of my best friends.
15:40
Speaker 2: I love to hear that when you started traveling to compete,
15:44
Speaker 2: I would assume that almost rather quickly, people started to
15:48
Speaker 2: recognize you or perhaps want to ask you questions about
15:52
Speaker 2: the things that you were doing. Do you recall, like
15:54
Speaker 2: exactly when you started to realize, like just how immersed
15:58
Speaker 2: you were becoming in this that you had grown up watching.
16:02
Speaker 1: It's so funny that you say that. I think the
16:04
Speaker 1: best part about surfing is like, I don't know, Like
16:07
Speaker 1: I definitely I feel like, you know, I've reached the
16:10
Speaker 1: top of my sport in some ways, but I I
16:14
Speaker 1: don't know, I feel like I could still like live
16:16
Speaker 1: my normal life and not many people like say much,
16:19
Speaker 1: which is really great, But I mean it's just enough
16:21
Speaker 1: that it feels really great, and I love talking to
16:24
Speaker 1: people and stuff. But I think maybe probably when I
16:29
Speaker 1: started competing in school and there was like a couple
16:32
Speaker 1: like newspaper articles here, there there are people at school
16:35
Speaker 1: who were like.
16:35
Speaker 3: Oh, that was cool.
16:36
Speaker 1: You had a good weekend, inn't you.
16:38
Speaker 2: So that was awesome, and we talked about coming into
16:42
Speaker 2: your own a little bit.
16:43
Speaker 3: In your sport.
16:45
Speaker 2: It is like commonplace to always be in a bathing
16:49
Speaker 2: suit running around, and I feel as though from a
16:53
Speaker 2: young age that's just like ingrained in your culture. But
16:56
Speaker 2: did you ever have trouble getting used to something like that?
17:00
Speaker 1: Being in a bathing suit was never an issue until
17:02
Speaker 1: I started going through my changes as a teenager and
17:07
Speaker 1: my body was changing, I was going through some personal things.
17:11
Speaker 1: I definitely turned to food as like my comfort, and
17:14
Speaker 1: I packed on a few pounds, and I think what
17:17
Speaker 1: was hard is in a bathing suit, everybody can see everything,
17:21
Speaker 1: and you're really putting yourself out there and for judgment,
17:25
Speaker 1: And I think there were definitely times when people saw
17:33
Speaker 1: the outside but didn't actually think of what was going
17:36
Speaker 1: on in the inside. I was still training super hard
17:38
Speaker 1: and all these things. I definitely didn't have the healthiest
17:41
Speaker 1: relationship with food. I felt judged more based on the
17:45
Speaker 1: way that I looked rather than my athleticism or the
17:47
Speaker 1: way that I served. And I think that at the
17:49
Speaker 1: time that was kind of just the way that it
17:52
Speaker 1: was was for women in the sport, and it's really
17:55
Speaker 1: great to see, like after competing on a championship tour
17:59
Speaker 1: for the last eleven years, how far it has come,
18:03
Speaker 1: and the fact that like, hey, you can wear a
18:04
Speaker 1: tiny bikini, you can wear board shorts, you can wear
18:07
Speaker 1: whatever you want, but there is this deep appreciation, genuine
18:11
Speaker 1: appreciation from the surf community and people watching just for
18:14
Speaker 1: athleticism as a woman. So no, but they're definitely like
18:18
Speaker 1: my body positivity journey. It's been a journey, and I
18:23
Speaker 1: still feel like there are days where I feel good
18:26
Speaker 1: in my own skin. There's days when I don't. But
18:28
Speaker 1: I think over time, I've just learned like, hey, I
18:31
Speaker 1: may not look like the next person, but we're all
18:34
Speaker 1: beautiful and unique and we're not meant to fit a
18:37
Speaker 1: specific mold. There is no specific mold, and my body
18:39
Speaker 1: allows me to do amazing things. I'm strong, and I
18:43
Speaker 1: think what really helped me also on this journey was
18:47
Speaker 1: when I fell in love with my husband and he
18:51
Speaker 1: actually we got together when I was like at my
18:53
Speaker 1: heaviest weight, and it was like, aha, it doesn't matter
18:56
Speaker 1: the number on this scale, it doesn't matter the way
18:58
Speaker 1: that I look like. He still thinks I'm beautiful. Someone
19:01
Speaker 1: this one person thinks I'm beautiful no matter what. How
19:03
Speaker 1: cool is that? So that was kind of when I
19:06
Speaker 1: started to like have a healthier relationship with food. There
19:10
Speaker 1: was more like a inner confidence in myself, and since then,
19:15
Speaker 1: I've really been trying to talk kinder and treat myself better.
19:18
Speaker 2: Since then, when you said that at the time, like
19:21
Speaker 2: you were leaning into food when you were going through
19:23
Speaker 2: some difficult stuff, was this like an emotional eating thing?
19:28
Speaker 1: For sure? I think there was so much stuff that
19:31
Speaker 1: was out of my control at that part in that
19:33
Speaker 1: time of my life, it felt like food was mine
19:37
Speaker 1: and it was like I think I would probably define
19:40
Speaker 1: what I was going through as binge eating or closet eating,
19:43
Speaker 1: because I would like literally not eat in front of
19:46
Speaker 1: anyone and like starve all day. But then when I
19:48
Speaker 1: got home, I would just like chow. I would just
19:51
Speaker 1: eat everything in sight, and then I would try to
19:54
Speaker 1: work y'all off, and it was like just this negative
19:56
Speaker 1: cycle where I just felt guilty but like hungry, but
20:00
Speaker 1: like empty wanted control. It was. It was a really
20:04
Speaker 1: interesting time, and I hope it. I just felt a
20:10
Speaker 1: lot of pressure. There was some anxiety just inside outside everything, And.
20:15
Speaker 2: I mean, I think a lot of women, especially young women,
20:18
Speaker 2: can totally relate to this. I mean, for me, I
20:21
Speaker 2: definitely dealt with leaning into food to manage a lot
20:25
Speaker 2: of the feelings that I had surrounding my parents getting
20:28
Speaker 2: separated when I was younger. And then I went to
20:31
Speaker 2: college and I was bigger than everybody else and I
20:33
Speaker 2: felt super uncomfortable in my body and my self confidence
20:37
Speaker 2: was like completely lacking.
20:39
Speaker 3: And it wasn't until one day that I was like, if.
20:41
Speaker 2: You don't change the way you're treating your body in
20:43
Speaker 2: the way that you're talking to yourself, then you're not
20:47
Speaker 2: gonna like, you won't find happiness here. And that is
20:52
Speaker 2: you know, it's a big moment that you have to
20:54
Speaker 2: have with yourself. It's a big conversation because it's not
20:56
Speaker 2: like you can just flip a switch and all of
20:58
Speaker 2: those negative thoughts go away.
21:00
Speaker 1: No, No, it's like it's everyday work. It's like I
21:05
Speaker 1: have those thoughts all the time, Like doubt and self
21:08
Speaker 1: confidence doesn't come me easy, you know. I mean, yeah,
21:11
Speaker 1: it's something I battle with every day still.
21:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
21:15
Speaker 2: And you mentioned that in the water you feel home,
21:19
Speaker 2: maybe articulate how you really feel in the ocean.
21:24
Speaker 1: It's hard, it's kind of indescribable. But I think why
21:28
Speaker 1: I love it so much is because being in the
21:30
Speaker 1: ocean you have to be present. And in this world today,
21:33
Speaker 1: I feel like there's so much going on and I'm
21:36
Speaker 1: constantly going, going, going, But like in the ocean, you
21:39
Speaker 1: have to be present otherwise you're gonna get like knocked
21:41
Speaker 1: out by a wave or thrown off your board. And
21:45
Speaker 1: I just feel like riding a wave and paddling around
21:50
Speaker 1: and just like gets my body booby and it feels
21:53
Speaker 1: just like it just invigorates me and makes me feel
21:58
Speaker 1: happy and free. And I love the spontaneity of riding
22:01
Speaker 1: a wave. Then the fact that like no wave is
22:04
Speaker 1: ever the same, no day, the conditions are ever the same,
22:06
Speaker 1: And so I love that you're never gonna master it,
22:10
Speaker 1: You're always learning, you're always growing, And I just love
22:14
Speaker 1: the freshness and the newness of it every day.
22:17
Speaker 2: The parallel between like the waves come and then the
22:21
Speaker 2: water gets calm, and then the waves come again. It's like, God,
22:26
Speaker 2: it feels like every day in life is like a
22:28
Speaker 2: different wave that we have to navigate.
22:30
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think too something is like like
22:34
Speaker 1: in life too. You're gonna fall, you're gonna fail, but
22:36
Speaker 1: when you eventually get that one wave all the way
22:39
Speaker 1: to the beach, it's just gonna feel amazing, which is
22:41
Speaker 1: so like life. Like the things that are worth it,
22:44
Speaker 1: they're gonna take time, they're gonna take hardship. There's gonna
22:46
Speaker 1: be challenges, but you just got to get yourself back
22:49
Speaker 1: up back on your board, like dust yourself off, paddle
22:53
Speaker 1: back out to the lineup, and try again until you succeed.
22:56
Speaker 1: So I totally agree.
22:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what would you say, aside from coming into
23:02
Speaker 2: your own as a woman, was one of the biggest
23:06
Speaker 2: challenges early on in your career.
23:08
Speaker 1: I think as my career progressed after winning a few
23:13
Speaker 1: world titles, I think the next kind of like set
23:17
Speaker 1: of challenges was kind of redefining motivation for me and
23:23
Speaker 1: also redefining what success looks like and who I am
23:31
Speaker 1: without my results, because that was kind of like the
23:33
Speaker 1: next kind of learning lesson. I feel like I went
23:36
Speaker 1: through after I won my third world title, because I
23:40
Speaker 1: don't know, I never started this journey like, oh, I
23:44
Speaker 1: want to win this many world titles. It was always like, oh,
23:46
Speaker 1: I'd love to win one and then it was like,
23:49
Speaker 1: now what you know? And then how do you keep going?
23:52
Speaker 1: How do you keep achieving the highest level in the
23:55
Speaker 1: sport and keep motivating yourself? You know? How do you?
24:00
Speaker 1: How do you do that? And I just I felt
24:03
Speaker 1: a little lost and trapped in doing it for maybe
24:08
Speaker 1: everyone else and kind of got caught up in everyone
24:10
Speaker 1: else's expectations and wants for me. And it was like
24:14
Speaker 1: a hard lesson to learn because I'm a people pleaser,
24:17
Speaker 1: like I love to make other people happy, and I
24:19
Speaker 1: felt like when I was winning, everyone was happy, but
24:23
Speaker 1: it didn't feel right after a while, and so I
24:25
Speaker 1: kind of like, I definitely think that I wear my
24:29
Speaker 1: heart in my sleeve and I surf from my heart,
24:31
Speaker 1: and so that definitely translated into my performances. You couldn't
24:35
Speaker 1: you could see it. There was a three year like slump,
24:37
Speaker 1: so to say, I wasn't definitely performing at my best.
24:40
Speaker 1: The lines that I was drawing on the waves weren't
24:42
Speaker 1: as confident, and I think also just my husband. That's
24:47
Speaker 1: when my husband kind of proposed to me and I
24:50
Speaker 1: became a fiancee, and I was like, I'm going to
24:52
Speaker 1: become a wife and a mother one day. But like,
24:56
Speaker 1: who am I like before all this happens? Who am I? So? Yeah?
25:04
Speaker 1: I think it was an interesting couple years, and I
25:08
Speaker 1: feel like I've came out the other side with a
25:10
Speaker 1: deeper meaning for like what I want and listening to
25:13
Speaker 1: my gut and following my heart, even if it's maybe
25:17
Speaker 1: not what everyone else wants.
25:23
Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love
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28:26
Speaker 3: So interesting. There's so many things to unpack here.
28:28
Speaker 2: I mean the first thing to unpack here is a
28:31
Speaker 2: lot of people go through that kind of self inquisition.
28:34
Speaker 2: And you said, like you started wanting to know more
28:37
Speaker 2: about this, like wanting to know more about your why
28:40
Speaker 2: when you.
28:40
Speaker 3: Were still on top.
28:41
Speaker 2: So like when we're talking about your journey and like
28:44
Speaker 2: determining what success looks like a lot of times and
28:48
Speaker 2: I can speak to this from personal experience, but like,
28:50
Speaker 2: I've had to redefine what success is for me when
28:53
Speaker 2: I have faced injury and I am not able to
28:56
Speaker 2: toe the line at the starting line that I was
28:58
Speaker 2: hoping to toe the line at.
29:00
Speaker 3: So for me, I've had.
29:01
Speaker 2: To take a step back and be like, well, success
29:04
Speaker 2: is in this marathon training cycle, I met new people
29:08
Speaker 2: and found new community or success for me was that
29:12
Speaker 2: over the last three months, I found so much joy
29:15
Speaker 2: in lacing up my sneakers five to six days a
29:17
Speaker 2: week and giving back to me.
29:19
Speaker 3: Whereas for you, it's like, oh, I'm winning, I'm winning.
29:22
Speaker 2: This is what success is like, and you had the
29:25
Speaker 2: self awareness to be like, but what is it really.
29:28
Speaker 1: I can totally relate to being a like when you
29:33
Speaker 1: redefine things, it's most of the time it comes when
29:36
Speaker 1: you're kind of hitting rock bottom, or when you're like
29:39
Speaker 1: in this place of like, Okay, well I can keep
29:41
Speaker 1: going this way, or I can go back to the
29:44
Speaker 1: drawing board and turn it around. So it was after
29:48
Speaker 1: my third world title where I went into that three
29:50
Speaker 1: year slump of like not really like knowing why this
29:54
Speaker 1: wasn't working out and I was not having fun. I
29:57
Speaker 1: was not having fun riding with I was not in
30:00
Speaker 1: love with competing. I was like upset and I was
30:04
Speaker 1: just like grumpy and I was negative and a little lost,
30:09
Speaker 1: and it was definitely leaking into my relationship with my husband.
30:13
Speaker 1: And that was that was why I was like, Okay, things,
30:17
Speaker 1: things have to change. I got to make some changes
30:20
Speaker 1: in my life. And that's when, yeah, I's that's when
30:25
Speaker 1: it all happened.
30:26
Speaker 2: When you say, like, I have to make some changes
30:28
Speaker 2: in my life, what kind of changes did you make?
30:32
Speaker 1: I think the biggest changes were perspective changes, because instead
30:36
Speaker 1: of like looking at the tour and maybe you know,
30:41
Speaker 1: being like, oh, I'm like competing and I'm unhappy when
30:44
Speaker 1: I lose, instead it was like a change. It was like, oh,
30:48
Speaker 1: you know what, my life is great. I get to
30:50
Speaker 1: travel the world. I get to do something that I love.
30:53
Speaker 1: Even if I lose, I'm learning. So it was like
30:56
Speaker 1: it was definitely like a huge change in perspective.
31:00
Speaker 2: Were you able to shift that perspective on your own
31:04
Speaker 2: or were you talking to like a sports psychologist or
31:06
Speaker 2: listening to podcasts like where was that coming from?
31:09
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. A big shout out to my sports site,
31:12
Speaker 1: Slash life coach. His name is Daniel Zimbra, and I've
31:16
Speaker 1: been working with him for a few years now, and
31:19
Speaker 1: I couldn't advocate more for having that person that you
31:24
Speaker 1: can talk to that's a neutral space that just wants
31:27
Speaker 1: to that you can be a sounding board off of,
31:29
Speaker 1: and they'll kind of help guide you gently into I mean,
31:33
Speaker 1: he's really helped me to create a happier life for
31:37
Speaker 1: myself just all around. So I'm super grateful for it.
31:41
Speaker 2: Working with your sports psychologist a huge unlock for you.
31:45
Speaker 2: You said, meeting your husband also a life changing moment
31:48
Speaker 2: for you.
31:48
Speaker 3: How did you meet him?
31:49
Speaker 1: I met my husband in our senior year high school.
31:53
Speaker 1: So we were classmates and at this time our best
31:57
Speaker 1: friends were dating, so they kind of like set us up.
32:00
Speaker 3: Set you up. Wow, So you guys have been together
32:02
Speaker 3: for a minute now for a minute.
32:04
Speaker 1: Yes, it'll be actually celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary this December.
32:09
Speaker 2: Congratulations, thanks so much. As you continue to travel within
32:15
Speaker 2: the sport, how did that impact your relationship.
32:18
Speaker 1: In the early stages of our relationship, it was hard
32:21
Speaker 1: because I mean I missed him and we our relationship
32:26
Speaker 1: was new, and like I said, at that age, there
32:30
Speaker 1: was just so many different things that I was going
32:32
Speaker 1: through and also insecurity, so you know, it was hard
32:35
Speaker 1: to not be there and know what he was doing
32:37
Speaker 1: and have that trust in the beginning of a relationship.
32:41
Speaker 1: But it was also really good for us because I
32:44
Speaker 1: think that we both had growing up to do on
32:46
Speaker 1: our own. And as you know, the years have passed,
32:50
Speaker 1: he started traveling with me more and more, and like
32:53
Speaker 1: this year, this past season, he was like my full
32:56
Speaker 1: time travel buddy and I don't know what to do
32:59
Speaker 1: without it him on the road.
33:02
Speaker 2: When does the Olympics, like first really become something that's
33:05
Speaker 2: on your radar.
33:07
Speaker 1: Maybe six years before last year was when the conversation
33:12
Speaker 1: started and it became like like people were like, this
33:16
Speaker 1: is serious, this is actually going to happen.
33:18
Speaker 2: And to have like a goal that's so far out
33:21
Speaker 2: from when you said it must have been like a
33:25
Speaker 2: little intimidating.
33:27
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I don't think I actually really like
33:31
Speaker 1: understood the Olympics and like that journey until like the
33:35
Speaker 1: year we actually had to qualify. Because like I've been
33:38
Speaker 1: an Olympic fan for for for some time, since I
33:42
Speaker 1: was a little girl, Like I've watched the Winter Olympics
33:44
Speaker 1: and the Summer Olympics. But like, surfing in the Olympics
33:47
Speaker 1: wasn't something I ever fathomed as a little girl, and
33:50
Speaker 1: it just kind of like I knew it was going
33:52
Speaker 1: to be tough to qualify, so it wasn't ever like
33:56
Speaker 1: I'm gonna like, of course it's a goal, but I'm
33:58
Speaker 1: not going to let myself fully dream about it until
34:00
Speaker 1: it actually happens.
34:02
Speaker 2: I don't want to dream about it until it actually
34:04
Speaker 2: feels within my reach.
34:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know, I just not that I like,
34:08
Speaker 1: I mean, of course it's I dreamed about it, but
34:11
Speaker 1: I think there's a difference between like just putting your
34:15
Speaker 1: head down and like working for it and then like do.
34:19
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, Like I just I just
34:21
Speaker 3: I think about it.
34:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, it just it was like the battle to actually
34:26
Speaker 1: qualify for the Olympics between the other American girls was
34:29
Speaker 1: really tough, and so I just wanted to be realistic
34:32
Speaker 1: that like, hey, like it may work out, it may not.
34:34
Speaker 1: I'm going to give it my very best, but at
34:37
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we'll see what happens.
34:40
Speaker 2: And for you, I mean, over the years, your training
34:42
Speaker 2: is bigger than just like going into the ocean and
34:44
Speaker 2: grabbing a bunch of waves. So what does the rest
34:47
Speaker 2: of your training usually look like?
34:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's no better training for surfing than
34:52
Speaker 1: actually spending hours in the ocean. But outside of that,
34:56
Speaker 1: I train. I have a wonderful trainer, her name is
34:58
Speaker 1: Aaron Kamano, and we meet three times, three to four
35:01
Speaker 1: times a week, and usually it's outdoors at a park,
35:04
Speaker 1: and I also do pilates once a week. And it's
35:08
Speaker 1: also super important for me to rest and recover. That's
35:12
Speaker 1: a huge part of the whole thing.
35:14
Speaker 2: What's as prioritizing your rest and recovery look like for you?
35:17
Speaker 1: Oh, well, rested recovery involves a lot of naps and sleeping.
35:23
Speaker 1: And I'm really grateful for my partnership with Aura because
35:26
Speaker 1: they've helped me to really like nail down my recovery
35:30
Speaker 1: and figure out how to sleep better and how to
35:33
Speaker 1: train more efficiently depending on the sleep that I do get.
35:37
Speaker 1: And then on top of that, I love hyper Rice,
35:41
Speaker 1: which they have some great recovery tools that you know,
35:44
Speaker 1: after I train really hard, I'll sit in my normatic
35:46
Speaker 1: and just relax my legs and I do see a
35:49
Speaker 1: massage therapist like once a week when I'm home.
35:52
Speaker 2: Can we also talk about like the sleep packs as well.
35:55
Speaker 3: So I have.
35:56
Speaker 2: Yet to wear an Aora ring, but I do wear
35:59
Speaker 2: a whoop And learning about my sleep and my HRV
36:03
Speaker 2: and my resting heart rate and like seeing this data
36:06
Speaker 2: regularly has dramatically impacted things that I was doing before,
36:11
Speaker 2: maybe to my detriment, like drinking wine too late in
36:14
Speaker 2: the day versus having a glass at like I mean
36:17
Speaker 2: not every day. I can have a glass of wine
36:18
Speaker 2: at six o'clock. But if I have a glass of
36:20
Speaker 2: wine at six o'clock versus if I have a glass
36:22
Speaker 2: of wine at nine o'clock, I know my sleep is
36:24
Speaker 2: going to be different, just.
36:25
Speaker 3: Like I have, like now like.
36:27
Speaker 2: Taken a look at other benchmarks that totally impact my sleep,
36:30
Speaker 2: and I know that I want good sleep. So for you,
36:32
Speaker 2: what has learning about this data kind of taught you?
36:36
Speaker 1: Oh, it's been super eye opening to like you said,
36:39
Speaker 1: get data on a regular basis on how I'm sleeping.
36:42
Speaker 1: Because then I, over time, I've been able to look
36:44
Speaker 1: at it and compare and be like, Okay, Like when
36:46
Speaker 1: I do this, I sleep better and I wake up
36:50
Speaker 1: energize and ready to take on the day. If I
36:51
Speaker 1: do this I feel like I just want to lie
36:54
Speaker 1: around all day and be a vegetable. But I think
36:57
Speaker 1: some of the best little like that I've gotten is
37:02
Speaker 1: just like I sleep with a mask on every night,
37:05
Speaker 1: which helps with like light and blue light and just everything,
37:08
Speaker 1: so it helps me to have a more RESTful sleep.
37:11
Speaker 1: And I think turning off my phone earlier, like around
37:15
Speaker 1: six thirty pm and then just like enjoying time with
37:17
Speaker 1: my husband and my dogs and reading and winding down
37:20
Speaker 1: that way really helps me to like relax and settle
37:23
Speaker 1: down to have a good sleep.
37:25
Speaker 2: I think you gave like everyone listening to this podcast
37:28
Speaker 2: in this moment anxiety by saying that you have mastered,
37:32
Speaker 2: or at least like sometimes mastered the art of turning
37:35
Speaker 2: off your phone at six thirty.
37:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very rare, but when it does happen, the
37:39
Speaker 1: sleeps are amazing. So you want a good sleep.
37:43
Speaker 2: Yes, I feel like that's like literally dreams and goals.
37:48
Speaker 2: It's like I would love not to communicate with the
37:50
Speaker 2: world most nights after sixty.
37:52
Speaker 1: Oh it's been actually. So we live in the very
37:55
Speaker 1: back of one of the valleys here and we have
37:57
Speaker 1: huge trees, and the other day fell in a power
38:00
Speaker 1: line it took it out for like the whole day,
38:02
Speaker 1: and I was like, this is heaven. I don't have
38:04
Speaker 1: to respond to anybody right now because no one can
38:07
Speaker 1: reach me.
38:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, but I feel like in what you do,
38:11
Speaker 2: like going into the ocean for long periods of time, Like,
38:14
Speaker 2: do you think that you're the most reachable human?
38:19
Speaker 3: No, I have to think about this, actually not really,
38:25
Speaker 3: you know.
38:26
Speaker 1: I feel like it sometimes takes me days to like
38:28
Speaker 1: text people back, and I'm like, I'm so sorry. I
38:31
Speaker 1: saw your text come in and then I ran off someplace.
38:34
Speaker 3: Where I couldn't bring my phone.
38:36
Speaker 2: Because yes, for you, how do you besides your time
38:40
Speaker 2: in the ocean, how do you give back to you?
38:42
Speaker 3: What do you do to take care of yourself?
38:46
Speaker 1: Well, I am a religious snapper, so like honestly, like
38:50
Speaker 1: I love naps and setting aside time during the day
38:53
Speaker 1: to like just be quiet and like hang out at
38:55
Speaker 1: my house. I love to just like organize and like
39:00
Speaker 1: right now we're actually in the middle of like a
39:02
Speaker 1: big home improvement, so like that's been a fun way
39:05
Speaker 1: to Like I love projects, I like scrap booking, I
39:09
Speaker 1: like being creative, and so for me, that's like a
39:11
Speaker 1: nice outlet I just love hanging out with people that
39:14
Speaker 1: I love. So I'm very fortunate to live only maybe
39:17
Speaker 1: like a ten to fifteen minute radius away from like
39:20
Speaker 1: my mom and my dad and my in laws and
39:24
Speaker 1: my grandparents, and so my sister lives moved home as well,
39:28
Speaker 1: So I'm constantly just like hanging out with my friends
39:31
Speaker 1: and family. That really fills me up. And yeah, I'm simple.
39:36
Speaker 1: I don't need much to be happy.
39:38
Speaker 2: How does the Olympic qualifying situation work in surfing?
39:41
Speaker 1: Well, we were guinea pigs because it was the first
39:44
Speaker 1: time ever and it was a little confusing, to be honest.
39:48
Speaker 1: But for the main countries that have a very strong
39:52
Speaker 1: presence on the World Championship Tour, like the United States
39:56
Speaker 1: and Brazil and France, they took your seating your you
40:03
Speaker 1: were able to qualify from just competing on the Championship
40:06
Speaker 1: Tour season in twenty nineteen, So that's how that happened.
40:09
Speaker 1: And then there were a couple other events like the
40:11
Speaker 1: ISA Games and the Pan am Games where other, like
40:15
Speaker 1: maybe smaller countries that aren't represented on the Championship Tour
40:20
Speaker 1: it could qualify through.
40:22
Speaker 3: Do you remember where you were when you found out
40:24
Speaker 3: that you were going to the Olympics.
40:26
Speaker 1: Yes, I remember it was. It was it was a
40:31
Speaker 1: crazy showdown for these two spots because the world title
40:35
Speaker 1: race in twenty nineteen was myself, Caroline Marks from originally
40:40
Speaker 1: from Florida but now is in California, and Laky Peterson
40:42
Speaker 1: from California. We were one two three in the world
40:45
Speaker 1: and so we were not only on the final day
40:48
Speaker 1: of the season, the last day and the last comp
40:51
Speaker 1: were we not only vying for the world title, but
40:54
Speaker 1: we were vying for the two spots. So it was
40:57
Speaker 1: like it was so intense because of just the talent
41:01
Speaker 1: level from America on the tour, you know. So yeah,
41:05
Speaker 1: I found out because one of the ladies, actually Lady Peterson,
41:10
Speaker 1: who I just like madly love and respect she's amazing,
41:13
Speaker 1: But she bowed out early in the competition, which meant
41:15
Speaker 1: that I had qualified. And so it was during a
41:18
Speaker 1: post heat interview that they were like, hey, you qualified,
41:21
Speaker 1: and they gave me like this special flag and it
41:23
Speaker 1: was like, this is real. I actually got all choked
41:26
Speaker 1: up in a bit overwhelmed.
41:28
Speaker 2: How do you find your calm in those kinds of
41:32
Speaker 2: high pressure moments.
41:35
Speaker 1: It's my calm comes from taking a couple of deep breaths,
41:44
Speaker 1: and I mean especially this year, this season in particular,
41:49
Speaker 1: my theme was freedom, and I really like it was
41:53
Speaker 1: a goal of mine to really strive for that freedom
41:56
Speaker 1: in my mind and freedom in my body. Because when
41:58
Speaker 1: it's all free, I can do what I trained to
42:01
Speaker 1: do every day. And if I do what I do
42:03
Speaker 1: every day, then I'm going to be fine. I just
42:05
Speaker 1: so it's I do a lot of like rational reasoning
42:09
Speaker 1: of just like, hey, trust the freedom, trust the formula.
42:12
Speaker 1: You have a good formula, You've done the work, You've
42:15
Speaker 1: checked all your boxes. Like all you have to do
42:17
Speaker 1: is go out there and surf and be yourself and
42:21
Speaker 1: do it with love and leave it all the rest
42:24
Speaker 1: up to the universe, because I truly believe everything happens
42:27
Speaker 1: for a reason. If it's not meant to be, it's
42:29
Speaker 1: not meant to be, and there's a lesson to take
42:31
Speaker 1: from that, and it'll make me stronger, it'll shade me
42:33
Speaker 1: into a better human and a better athlete. So just
42:37
Speaker 1: trusting in that has really given me like a sense
42:42
Speaker 1: of calm and a sense of peace in those in
42:44
Speaker 1: those moments, was.
42:45
Speaker 2: There something that happened that helped you to adopt that
42:48
Speaker 2: mindset just.
42:49
Speaker 1: Over time, There's been a few things I think, just
42:52
Speaker 1: seeing like hey, when I am free, I surf and
42:55
Speaker 1: perform so much better. I'm happier. I think it was
42:59
Speaker 1: after those few years of like redefining motivation and growth
43:03
Speaker 1: and what I want for myself that I was like,
43:06
Speaker 1: I don't have to do this for anybody else, Like
43:09
Speaker 1: all I have to do is do it for me.
43:11
Speaker 1: And so that's kind of what helped to like a
43:13
Speaker 1: lot of like the anxiety and stress comes from the
43:16
Speaker 1: stuff that you can't control, and that includes other people's
43:19
Speaker 1: opinions or what they think of you, and most of
43:22
Speaker 1: the stuff is out of your control, out of your control,
43:25
Speaker 1: especially in the ocean, like I can only control this much,
43:28
Speaker 1: which is like my approach, my perspective, which waves I
43:31
Speaker 1: catch and how I serve them, the waves that my
43:34
Speaker 1: competitors catch, the way the judges judge, you know, the conditions,
43:38
Speaker 1: Like I just got to let that go and do
43:40
Speaker 1: me and then I don't know.
43:42
Speaker 2: It's a hard mindset to adopt, right because we want
43:45
Speaker 2: to like have a say in everything. But to your point,
43:49
Speaker 2: it can just be like the most absolutely freeing experience
43:52
Speaker 2: and something you mentioned here like not being able to
43:55
Speaker 2: have control over other people's opinions. I mean, as you
43:58
Speaker 2: became more well known in the sport, how did you
44:02
Speaker 2: get to a point where you could really release that
44:06
Speaker 2: pressure that maybe you are putting on yourself based on
44:09
Speaker 2: what other people had to say.
44:11
Speaker 1: It's it's having a good support crew, honestly, like having
44:15
Speaker 1: people that you can count on that you don't don't
44:20
Speaker 1: judge you, that just listen and are genuinely there for you,
44:23
Speaker 1: and like, at the end of the day, those are
44:25
Speaker 1: the opinions that matter. So that's that's what I like,
44:30
Speaker 1: that's what I lean on. I just am like, hey,
44:32
Speaker 1: the people the opinions that matter are the are coming
44:35
Speaker 1: from the people that love me and the other stuff.
44:38
Speaker 1: It just just let it go.
44:40
Speaker 2: I always feel like I go back to this idea,
44:42
Speaker 2: like would you go to this person for advice and
44:45
Speaker 2: not to say that like what they have to say
44:47
Speaker 2: one hundred percent doesn't matter just because you may not
44:50
Speaker 2: know them. But sometimes that helps you put in perspective
44:53
Speaker 2: where you're taking most of your feedback from and who
44:56
Speaker 2: you want to allow to have that kind of effect
44:58
Speaker 2: on you. Absolutely absolutely in finding out that you're gonna
45:03
Speaker 2: go to the Olympics, you start to train differently, or
45:07
Speaker 2: do you kind of go about things as usual.
45:10
Speaker 1: I kind of like just because it had never happened before,
45:13
Speaker 1: and I didn't really like. To me, it was like, Okay,
45:15
Speaker 1: there's two different ways you can look at it. It
45:18
Speaker 1: can be like this crazy new, like big experience, which
45:22
Speaker 1: it is, and you can treat it that way, or
45:25
Speaker 1: you can treat it like any other contests, which it
45:28
Speaker 1: is it really is. If you strip it all away,
45:30
Speaker 1: you're just putting a jersey on and you're going in
45:32
Speaker 1: your surfing like any other contest. And I was like, okay, well,
45:35
Speaker 1: which approach will will give me the best outcome, like
45:40
Speaker 1: the best chance of success, because I think if I
45:43
Speaker 1: overthink it and I make it a big deal, it's
45:45
Speaker 1: just gonna turn into this, this this thing that just
45:49
Speaker 1: feels too big in my head. So I'm just gonna
45:52
Speaker 1: approach it like any other contest, because okay, well, most
45:57
Speaker 1: of the contests that I do regularly, I do alright.
45:59
Speaker 1: And so when I found out that I qualified, we
46:04
Speaker 1: had a bit of an off season, and that was
46:07
Speaker 1: actually at the end of twenty nineteen, was when I
46:11
Speaker 1: announced that I was going to take a year off
46:13
Speaker 1: from competing on the Championship Tour and just have a
46:17
Speaker 1: year to focus on training for the Olympics and doing
46:21
Speaker 1: some stuff that I haven't had the chance to really
46:23
Speaker 1: do because I've been traveling on the road for so long.
46:27
Speaker 1: So I was just kind of in relaxed cruise mode.
46:30
Speaker 1: And then COVID happened and the Olympics got postponed, and luckily, yeah,
46:36
Speaker 1: I hadn't really like hit training or hadn't really picked
46:40
Speaker 1: up speed with training yet, so I just continued with
46:44
Speaker 1: doing what I would at whatever I was doing at home.
46:47
Speaker 2: Did you feel relieved or maybe did you feel a
46:53
Speaker 2: sense of extra pressure making that kind of announcement.
46:58
Speaker 1: It was that moment right that I kind of had
47:00
Speaker 1: been working towards that moment that I was going to
47:03
Speaker 1: choose myself and what felt right to me above everybody else.
47:06
Speaker 1: And it was super scary. I was like, WHOA, what
47:10
Speaker 1: is everyone going to think? Like? I literally like, I think,
47:14
Speaker 1: you know, probably everybody thinks that I should continue competing
47:17
Speaker 1: on tour and try for another world title. I'm in
47:20
Speaker 1: great shape and stuff, and you know, this is the
47:23
Speaker 1: time that I should be capitalizing on that, on my
47:28
Speaker 1: health and where I'm at but I was like, no,
47:30
Speaker 1: this is what feels right. And so as much as
47:35
Speaker 1: it was like nerve wracking, I did what felt right
47:38
Speaker 1: to me. I stayed authentic and I think it was
47:40
Speaker 1: really great to see. The response was super positive and
47:45
Speaker 1: I've got a lot of support, which was really cool.
47:47
Speaker 2: I feel like there must have been a lot of
47:48
Speaker 2: tears in making that decision, Yes.
47:52
Speaker 1: For sure, but I actually I had made that decision
47:57
Speaker 1: a while back. I had made the decision actually, I
48:00
Speaker 1: think before I even started competing that year. I was like, Hey,
48:05
Speaker 1: I'm going to give it everything that I have and
48:07
Speaker 1: then I'm just going to give myself a break.
48:09
Speaker 3: You know what happens in the break. Besides COVID.
48:15
Speaker 1: I spent it was My break was a lot different
48:18
Speaker 1: than I had imagined it to be because I wanted
48:21
Speaker 1: to do a bunch of surf trips and I wanted
48:23
Speaker 1: to go to places I hadn't been before and really
48:25
Speaker 1: like do some different things. But I ended up staying home,
48:28
Speaker 1: which was still super awesome, and I got to hang
48:31
Speaker 1: out and get into a routine and train at home.
48:34
Speaker 1: We had a great summer of waves at home. Yeah,
48:36
Speaker 1: played with the pups, did some hiking, did a lot
48:39
Speaker 1: of scrap booking home workouts. It was fun.
48:43
Speaker 3: It was what are we doing for home workouts?
48:45
Speaker 1: Grossa, oh home workouts? Well, I was zooming my plate's teacher.
48:50
Speaker 1: I was actually set up like a bike and I
48:53
Speaker 1: got a punching bag for my birthday last year.
48:57
Speaker 3: I love this for you. Yeah, amped over the punching bag.
49:02
Speaker 2: Yeah.
49:02
Speaker 1: The punching bag was a game changer because it helped
49:05
Speaker 1: me get a lot of all the aggression built up
49:08
Speaker 1: angst out we.
49:10
Speaker 2: All had that built the bank over the last eighteen months.
49:12
Speaker 2: I'm I'm certain about that. Okay. So let's fast forward
49:17
Speaker 2: to you actually heading to the Olympics. Did you did
49:23
Speaker 2: you think going in that you were going to come
49:25
Speaker 2: out on top.
49:26
Speaker 1: I think everybody going in wants to come out on top.
49:31
Speaker 1: I definitely wanted it to work out. It was there
49:35
Speaker 1: was just so many things, like we had talked about,
49:37
Speaker 1: that was out of my control and was a little
49:39
Speaker 1: different in outside my comfort zone. Like we weren't allowed
49:42
Speaker 1: to bring our normal teams with us, Like so we
49:46
Speaker 1: weren't allowed to bring our family. I wasn't a proud
49:48
Speaker 1: to allowed to bring my husband. So that was very
49:50
Speaker 1: different and so I, in a sense, even though I
49:54
Speaker 1: was there with the US team and they were amazing,
49:56
Speaker 1: I felt a little bit alone. I felt a little
49:59
Speaker 1: bit like, Okay, I've got to like stand on my
50:01
Speaker 1: own two feet and back myself and figure this out.
50:04
Speaker 1: Then on top of that, we were dealing with like
50:07
Speaker 1: never surfed the venue before, and then the storm came,
50:12
Speaker 1: and then that was crazy and just the different the
50:16
Speaker 1: way that they were they broadcasted the event and how
50:19
Speaker 1: they had to stand on the beach before we had
50:21
Speaker 1: to paddle out, and they announced us and stuff, the
50:24
Speaker 1: different security checkpoints, all that was just like different, and
50:28
Speaker 1: so I I was like, Hey, all I could do
50:33
Speaker 1: is have fun, do my best, and we'll see what happens.
50:37
Speaker 2: And we'll see what happens. It's uh, it's interesting, right
50:41
Speaker 2: because sometimes in those moments of like true truly feeling alone,
50:48
Speaker 2: that's when you like have when you're forced to sit
50:52
Speaker 2: with yourself and like do a complete body scan about
50:55
Speaker 2: what's going on and how you feel. I would imagine
50:57
Speaker 2: that feeling alone really gave you the space to inquire
51:04
Speaker 2: like what is it that I'm doing here and what
51:07
Speaker 2: is it that I really want out of this?
51:09
Speaker 1: Oh? Exactly exactly. It was a very like empowering moment.
51:15
Speaker 1: It's been so I'm so grateful for the journey, but
51:19
Speaker 1: just like looking back at it now, like every step,
51:22
Speaker 1: every challenge that even we've talked about today that has
51:25
Speaker 1: brought me to this point as being like a woman
51:29
Speaker 1: and like backing myself and following my heart and my gut.
51:33
Speaker 1: Like it all came to a head at the Olympics
51:37
Speaker 1: because all I had was like, like I said, I
51:40
Speaker 1: had the team, and the team was amazing. I got
51:42
Speaker 1: to work with the coach Brett Simpson, and he's like
51:44
Speaker 1: one of my best friends and we've worked together before.
51:47
Speaker 1: But in a lot of ways, I felt like I
51:50
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, it's me, I'm doing this, and it
51:53
Speaker 1: was really cool.
51:54
Speaker 2: For someone who struggles to find this similar level of
52:00
Speaker 2: strength and independence on their own, What piece of advice
52:05
Speaker 2: maybe do you have to offer them?
52:07
Speaker 1: It can't be forced, you know, it has it comes
52:10
Speaker 1: with experience, it comes with time, So be patient with
52:14
Speaker 1: yourself and like, I don't know, like there's still like
52:18
Speaker 1: moments where I don't feel strong or I feel like
52:23
Speaker 1: I second guessed myself or my decisions. So just being
52:26
Speaker 1: okay with like it's progress not perfection, And I think
52:30
Speaker 1: I've always like put a lot of pressure on myself
52:32
Speaker 1: for it to all look a certain way and go
52:35
Speaker 1: a certain way. But I think that there's so much
52:37
Speaker 1: beauty in the progress and just being like I think
52:41
Speaker 1: that there's a strength and being vulnerable and also like
52:44
Speaker 1: letting your guard down and knowing that there can be
52:46
Speaker 1: improvements and you can be better. I truly believe there
52:50
Speaker 1: is a plan. To believe in the plan and trust
52:52
Speaker 1: the plan, and you know, we're we're all put on
52:57
Speaker 1: this planet for a reason. So yeah, I don't know.
53:00
Speaker 2: I think if you're I mean, you said the word vulnerability,
53:03
Speaker 2: and I think you hit it on the head because
53:04
Speaker 2: if you're not willing to be honest with yourself about
53:06
Speaker 2: the things that you're struggling with or the hurdles that
53:08
Speaker 2: you're going through, then how are you ever gonna make
53:10
Speaker 2: it to the other side of that?
53:12
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, totally totally. And that's like that that's a
53:15
Speaker 1: really hard thing to do, is to be able to
53:17
Speaker 1: like sit down with yourself and be like, Okay, I
53:20
Speaker 1: can I can do this better. That that's where the
53:23
Speaker 1: growth happens.
53:23
Speaker 2: That's where the growth happens, So right, now. I mean
53:26
Speaker 2: we know that, we know what happens. You win the
53:29
Speaker 2: gold medal, You're like on top of the world. Does
53:32
Speaker 2: it literally feel like you're on top of the world?
53:39
Speaker 1: Yes, it felt It felt so good. I think I
53:43
Speaker 1: think it was just like in that moment when it
53:46
Speaker 1: all happened in the corn Blue and I was like wait,
53:49
Speaker 1: I just want wait what It was just an accumulation
53:53
Speaker 1: of like I did it, and it was this long
53:57
Speaker 1: journey and all the things and all the people that
54:00
Speaker 1: went into it. I just was like thinking of my
54:02
Speaker 1: family and like all the people that have helped me
54:05
Speaker 1: along this journey, like it wouldn't be possible without every
54:08
Speaker 1: single person that have shared their love and time with me.
54:11
Speaker 1: And then it was extra special just being a Hawaiian
54:14
Speaker 1: and like bringing it back to like Hawaii and the
54:17
Speaker 1: roots of surfing and just getting to represent the islands
54:22
Speaker 1: and my people and where I come from. That was
54:25
Speaker 1: really really cool.
54:26
Speaker 2: Obviously so much pride that goes hand in hand with
54:29
Speaker 2: being Hawaiian. When you think about the people that inspired
54:32
Speaker 2: you on your journey, have you been able to bring
54:35
Speaker 2: this back to them and articulate that about how much
54:39
Speaker 2: there they've had an impact on you.
54:42
Speaker 1: I hope. So I've tried. There's so many people that
54:47
Speaker 1: I wanted to think, but I'm getting there slowly. I'm
54:52
Speaker 1: getting there slowly. But yeah, No, there's definitely like a
54:56
Speaker 1: deep sense of gratitude and appreciation and it felt thanks
55:00
Speaker 1: to everyone that has has been there for me. You know,
55:03
Speaker 1: I worked with so many coaches. I've you know, from
55:08
Speaker 1: my people at the different companies that I've worked with
55:11
Speaker 1: and have sponsored me, to my family, my friends. It's crazy. Yeah,
55:16
Speaker 1: the support and love I've got has been tremendous.
55:20
Speaker 2: Right now, if someone wants to go to your social
55:23
Speaker 2: media pages, maybe your Instagram, they would see a Hawaiian
55:27
Speaker 2: surfer who has about half a million followers. When you
55:31
Speaker 2: look in the in the mirror, what is it that
55:33
Speaker 2: you see looking back at you?
55:35
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I just I'm just. I'm
55:39
Speaker 1: just a girl. I'm a woman. I'm a wife, I'm
55:43
Speaker 1: a daughter, I'm a friend, I'm a sister, and I
55:49
Speaker 1: just I'm very grateful to be living the life that
55:51
Speaker 1: I live and doing what I love every day, which
55:53
Speaker 1: is writing waves.
55:55
Speaker 3: What excites you right now?
55:57
Speaker 1: I'm excited to put subway tiles over my kitchen stove.
56:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love this HGTV life for you.
56:09
Speaker 2: Now that now that you've gotten this metal, what is
56:13
Speaker 2: like even on the horizon for you and then your future.
56:16
Speaker 1: I am enjoying my off season for I don't know
56:20
Speaker 1: the foreseeable future. Our Championship Tour season doesn't start up
56:24
Speaker 1: again un till the end of January, so I'm just
56:26
Speaker 1: chilling like a villain. I actually think that my husband
56:33
Speaker 1: and I are going to be going on a friend's
56:35
Speaker 1: trip to Mexico to celebrate his thirtieth birthday, which it
56:38
Speaker 1: will be like the first trip I've done just for
56:40
Speaker 1: fun with the surfboard, not like competing, so I'm really
56:43
Speaker 1: looking forward to that. But yeah, no big plans.
56:47
Speaker 2: No big plans. Oh, you deserve it. You deserve all
56:50
Speaker 2: of it. Right now, my friend, you have an opportunity
56:55
Speaker 2: to give yourself a piece of advice going through that
56:59
Speaker 2: three year low point. Looking back on it, now, what
57:04
Speaker 2: do you tell yourself during that hurdle moment?
57:08
Speaker 1: Well, I would probably tell myself you need to go
57:12
Speaker 1: through this because you're gonna come out the side other
57:16
Speaker 1: side with so much more of like a different perspective
57:19
Speaker 1: and understanding, So it would just be patient with the
57:23
Speaker 1: journey and kind to yourself and have a little bit
57:27
Speaker 1: more fun because you know, laugh it off a little bit.
57:30
Speaker 1: I think if anything that I could have done a
57:32
Speaker 1: little bit better drink those years was just I was
57:35
Speaker 1: super hard on myself, and I think it led to
57:37
Speaker 1: a little bit of a burnout. So just keep it fun,
57:41
Speaker 1: keep it fun.
57:42
Speaker 3: I love it.
57:42
Speaker 2: CHURSA thank you so much for your time today. How
57:45
Speaker 2: do the hurdlers follow along with you?
57:47
Speaker 3: How do we keep up with you? Give us all
57:48
Speaker 3: the details?
57:49
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, well, thanks so much. I guess the
57:52
Speaker 1: best way to keep up with me is my Instagram
57:55
Speaker 1: account at risk more ten and Yeah.
58:00
Speaker 2: I'm over at Hurdle Podcasts, and at Emily and Baddie
58:03
Speaker 2: another hurdle conquered.
58:05
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.