Who is Bethany Hamilton? Why does she matter in the surfing world? How can one keep surfing after loosing an arm to a shark, and how much? Short answer : a lot. Here are a couple of things I found out for you about this beast of determination / surf addict. Here’s your new hero.
The who and how
Remember that blondie with a missing arm and a bitten board in The Duck Dive #9 ? Yup, that’s her. Growing up in Hawaii, Bethany Hamilton was best friends and rival to current female super-stars Alana Blanchard and Carissa Moore (4x world champ). Destined to be the next big thing in a booming sport, she was surfing with Alana at tunnels beach (Hawaii) when a 4m tiger shark ruined her future world title chances. She was 13 years old.
How much can one keep surfing after that? Short answer : a lot
Four weeks after the attack, she was back in the water training to fulfil her dreams, one-armed. Bethany and had to relearn to surf so she forgot about performance shortboards and picked up the longer, bigger boards again. It’s hard to imagine how much of a step back that must have been for a world-titlte-aspiring teen. But somehow, that didn’t last long. She was quickly back on shorter boards trying to duck dive bigger waves, ignoring the handicap that had changed her fate. Sinking a board and controlling it underwater with one arm is pretty much impossible, though.
Her father didn’t like to see her struggle to paddle out. In fact, he hated it, so he glued a handle made of a piece of rope and a rubber tube in the center of her board. She still uses this technique now, it’s what enables her to control the board with one arm.
Non-surfers:
You might not fully understand what goes on in the water when we go for a surf. Let’s just say you want both arms in all situations. Like when you’re the first to see an amazing peak that will break 20 meters from you in 10 seconds. Or when you want to get out of the f-ing way of the set that is about to crush you. Seriously, at the end of a good surf, it’s the pain in the shoulders that drags you back to shore…
Surfers:
Never again may you complain about an offshore wind making it difficult to catch a wave, hard-to-duck-dive sets making it difficult to paddle out… She went pro with one-arm, get your head down and suck it up pal.
The beast
Two years after the attack, she beat Carissa, Alana and many more to win the 2005 nationals at Trestles in California (oh and yes, it’s sharky there). Beth went on with the super-human behaviour throughout her (pro) career. When she got the wildcard to compete against the world’s best at Trestles again, she was so eager to compete that she kept her 6-weeks-pregnancy a secret from the competition organisers. Now I’m not a baby expert or anything but from what I read it’s not ideal to get into gladiator-mode at this point of life. But her all time career peak came in Fidji when she took down the 6x world champion (now 7x) Steph Gilmore and Nikki Van Dijk (then world n°1), one armed in pumping Fijian swell (watch heat highlights here).
She was so eager to compete that she kept her 6-weeks-pregnancy a secret from the competition organisers
She’s basically just a surf addict, but she made it so much more than that. Like when she was called upon in a U.S airbase to cheer and inspire wounded soldiers from the Iraq war. If I’m allowed to to get corny for a second here, I just think it’s cool that the surfing world has something to teach about power of will. Passions are transcendental, they bring the liveliest colours to our lives - the highest highs and lowest lows.
Duck dive deeper
Here are a two movies about her if you want to get know your new hero further, and a few lines from a famous poem that seemed appropriate:
Bethany Hamilton : Unstoppable - A bit corny and commercial in the tone, sever lack of an artistic touch in the direction, I’d say she deserved a better documentary. But it’s informative and inspiring nonetheless to go behind the scenes with Beth.
Soul surfer - Corniness levels are through the roof here, but it might just do the job as a hangover cure?
[…] If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
[…]
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
R. Kipling, If (read here)
Song of the week
IG of the week
