The exciting and ever-changing sport of surfing is both exhilarating to watch and and adrenaline-pumping to participate in, but the field’s female surfers are overshadowed by men. It isn’t rightfully so, for there are plenty of powerful, confident, and talented female surfers out there who deserve some recognition.
A recent piece done by Surfer.com profiled a few of the badass women surfing the daunting waves at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I have to admit, any time I see surfers doing their thing in the frigid, grey, and blustery waters in San Francisco, I have to admire their tenacity and bravery. It seems to take a lot of talent and little bit of recklessness to be able to plunge into the choppy waves with perfect assuredness.
Some of the surfers Surfer interviewed include Anna Wankel, Sachi Cunningham, and Monique Kitamura, who also have successful careers as a firefighter, a photojournalist/professor, and a chef, respectively. Wankel has completed the grueling swim from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf. Cunningham has traveled to Baghdad, Iraq, and Japan for her photography work. Kitamura has suffered six dislocated shoulders and balances motherhood with her surfing and career. Nothing quenches their eagerness to surf.
Just as inspiring as these female wave-riders are the artists who document them. The field of surfing videography is prevalent, but again, male-dominated. A piece by Surfline.com profiles some females in the field who don’t get the recognition they deserve. A few surfing videographers like Haley Gordon, Clare Plueckhahn, and Sarah Menzies have followed their true passion for film and surfing to capture the sport and its athletes’ talents in action. They hail from different corners of the world, but they share determination and an eye for beauty. They have shot in locations from Canada, to Venezuela, to the US, to Fiji, and more. They have had to scrape up funds for their passion projects and to practice filming constantly in order to get the result they want, but when they succeed, as Gordon puts it, you “get goosebumps thinking about it.”
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(Featured image via Shop style)
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