While the magnitude and breadth of the Huntington tide is known to swallow surfers whole, these two redondo teammates maneuvered their way to the NSSA surf tournament leaderboard. Both sophomores Abby Bosse and Sheamus Swift took home their first surf trophy, as both competed in the NSSA surf championship. Bosse placed 6th in the finals out of 14 in her division, and Swift placed 5th in his heat.
A surf heat is the format which competitive surfing is based around. Heats usually last 35 minutes and this is the time in which surfers compete against each other in the ocean. For this competition, the two redondo surfers were in for a challenge. Both Swift and Bosse were tasked with catching the high and unforgiving waves off the coast of Huntington beach, which average redondo waves pale in comparison. However, Bosse adapted to this adversity and stood out from the rest of her competition by developing her own strategy.
“Surfing at Huntington was the craziest and toughest conditions I’ve ever surfed in, there was so much going on,” Bosse said. “For most of the waves, all the girls were just kind of paddling the whole heat to try to stay where you wanted to be in order to catch a wave. But I aimed to stay close to the pier because I’m near the period where it was easier to get out. So once I caught a wave, I wouldn’t have to padel all the way over, and then go back out. I could just padel straight back out, so it saved me time.”
Similar to Bosse, Swift was able to set himself apart from the competition through a strategic mindset, coupled with a strong maneuver on the wave.
“Mindset is really important. You need to be aggressive getting waves, and be a really good paddler. Where we surfed in Huntington the waves picked out really far, and the waves were really consistent. I felt like paddling out to catch those waves was really hard,” Swift said. “Maneuvering was really important too, because Anyone can surf well on good waves, but the kids who did really well that day were able to surf well on bad waves in a tough section.”
According to Bosse and Swift, Huntington competitors lived up to their surf reputation, scoring high, and being fearless on the high tide.
“The kids competing were from Huntington, San Clemente and San Diego, so they are used to surfing those kinds of waves, and some of them were even homeschooled so they can surf every day. It’s tough competition, but it’s good to get that experience,” Bosse said.
While competing in her heat, Bosse churned up and down waves on her short board, scoring her way to the finals. To maintain efficacy, Bosse notes how she usually finds herself focused but often thinks of surfing as an escape.
“For me, surfing is a part of my life. I definitely can’t go on without it because while it’s very physically tiring, it can keep me fit, but also mentally, it can just calm your mind,” Bosse said. “I feel like you can learn lessons from the ocean while surfing, it teaches you to be more relaxed, and go with the flow.”
While being able to harness and maintain an open mindset on the wave is crucial to surfing, Swift notes wave intuition and skillful display of surfing techniques are required to score well in the tournament.
“The judges are looking for your wave selection, so how good the wave is, your maneuvers you do on the wave and then style, which is how you look on the wave,” Swift said. “You have to have good positioning, and you have to know the ocean very well.”
Similar to Swift, Bosse used these techniques to successfully advance to the finals, having to go through three rounds of competition. Even though Bosse placed 6th, out of 14 surfers, competing for her, and winning a trophy, was still an invaluable experience.
“This was a really big deal to me because I knew these girls were from good surf spots, so being able to compete with them and beat some of them in this competition was really validating,” Bosse said.
The two surfers were “stoked” to be taking home such massive surf trophies, but even though their achievement is noteworthy, their love for surfing is much more than just a trophy.
“Surfing is just so much fun and so unique, I just love doing it,” Swift said. “ I’ll probably do it for the rest of my life. It’s one of the sports you can kind of always do. I just love it, and am so grateful for this experience.”
