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SURFER WOMAN HOLLY BECK
 

THE SPORT OF SURFING IS WELL ESTABLISHED IN AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED STATES. BUT ITS POPULARITY IS A RISING TIDE IN AFRICA, EUROPE, AND SOUTH AMERICA. WHAT’S REALLY NEW IS THE INTEREST IN WOMEN SURFERS. VOA REPORTER TIM WARDNER HAS THE INSIGHT ON HOLLY BECK AND THE SPLASH SHE IS MAKING IN THIS EXCITING SPORT.

(Natural sound)
“Alright let’s go.”

MEET HOLLY BECK, THE 19 YEAR-OLD U.S. AMATEUR WOMEN’S CHAMPION SURFER.

ANNOUNCER
‘And taking the inaugural event of the pro surf tour of America’s women’s final, Holly Beck”

ANNOUNCER
“And up and riding in white, looks like Holly Beck.”

ANNOUNCER
“And first place, Holly Beck.”

UP UNTIL THE LAST FEW YEARS, SURFING WAS MOSTLY A MAN’S WORLD, BUT NOT ANYMORE.

(Natural sound)
“That’s why girls rip. Yea girls!”

HOLLY BECK
“I never had a surf lesson, never had a surf coach. Nobody ever told me what to do. It was just trial and error.”

THE SURFER IMAGE IS THE LAID-BACK (relaxed) LIFESTYLE. BUT IT’S NOT ALL BEACH FOR HOLLY BECK. HER STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO ARE IMPORTANT AND SOMETIMES CONFLICTING.

HOLLY BECK
“I like being educated and not being an idiot like the stereotypical surfer. But it’s really tough to do that when I know that all my friends and the people I surf against all the time are just surfing everyday.”

SURFING IS AN EXTREME AND DEMANDING SPORT, A CHALLENGE THAT APPEALS TO THE ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT.

HOLLY BECK
“You are constantly battling the ocean. If you get tired and there’s waves coming, you just can’t stop, you’ve got to keep going.”

IT’S A COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE SURFER MUST INSTINCTIVELY REACT TO THE UNPREDICTABLE MOTION OF THE WAVE.

HOLLY BECK
“When you’re actually riding the wave you’re looking for a place to hit it. If there’s whitewash coming, you can float over the section, put your board on top of the whitewash and kind of float down. It’s called a floater. Or if the wave’s flattening out then you want to do a cutback (turn). There’s so many things the wave can do and you have to maneuver accordingly.”

IT’S A FORM OF SELF-EXPRESSION, AND EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS THEIR OWN STYLE

HOLLY BECK
“There’s definitely some people that prefer to do aerials (flips). All they do is ride along the wave, get a lot of speed and get air. Then there’s the surfers who call themselves power surfers who race down the line and just do big power turns, layout on their rail (turn using edge) and just throw a lot of water.”

HOLLY’S STYLE IS AGGRESSIVE BUT GRACEFUL, AND COULD COME FROM SOME OF HER EARLY TRAINING IN DANCE.

HOLLY BECK
“My mom was a dance teacher so as soon as I was three years old she gave me a pair of ballet shoes and a pink tutu and said you’re going to take dancing lessons.”

IT’S A FLUID AQUATIC DANCE ON A LIQUID STAGE…. BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS SMOOTH SAILING AND WHEN THING GET ROUGH?

HOLLY BECK
“Then you’re thinking, I hope I make this because if I don’t I’m going to get worked.” (crushed)

GETTING ‘WORKED’ HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF SURFERS. IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY.

COMPETITIVE SURFING IS A WORLD OF ITS OWN.

HOLLY BECK
“I try to catch my first wave right off the bat so I can just get one under my belt and kind of relax. But if it takes me a while to get my first wave or if my first wave I fall on, then I feel like I’m playing catch-up the whole time.

In a contest you’re paddling the whole time. You paddle out and catch a wave immediately and paddle right back out again and catch another wave. And it’s just a constant cycle. I just try to think about more of the waves rather than the people I’m surfing against. I try to think about what I have to do.

I just want to make it through a couple of heats, that’s all.”

THE WORLD OF INTERNATIONAL SURFING IS A GLAMOROUS ONE, BUT THE COMPETITORS MAKE PERSONAL SACRIFICES FOR THAT LIFE.

HOLLY BECK
“You’re away from home eight months at a time. You live out of a suitcase. But if you’re really going to go at it, you’ve got to do all the contests. And when you’re not doing the contests, you’ve got to be in California promoting yourself.”

AND PROMOTION AND MERCHANDISING ARE WHAT DRIVE THE COMMERCIAL END OF SURFING. ALONG WITH THE BOARDS…

HOLLY BECK
“So you probably ride around that area 6’0; good boy, good salesman.”

THERE ARE APPAREL PRODUCTS THAT PROJECT THE COOL SURFER IMAGE.

HOLLY’S SPONSORS APPRECIATE HER AS SOMEONE WHO CAN PROJECT THAT COOL IMAGE -- WHICH SELLS THEIR PRODUCTS.

HOLLY BECK
“This make-up guy went like nuts on me, my hair was like out to here”

Music
TOP SURFERS ARE CELEBRITIES.

(Natural sound)
“Hi there, what’s your name”? “Elaine.” “Elaine”?

HOLLY BECK
“I definitely get a lot of unwanted attention. It varies on how much depending on where I’m at, what I’m doing. But there’s definitely a lot of guys, mostly guys I know and they come up and like, ‘Hey, I saw you in the magazine, let’s hang out.’ ”

CELEBRITY AND COMPETITION ASIDE, SURFING FOR HOLLY AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN IS AN EXPRESSION OF SPIRIT AND JOY.

HOLLY BECK
“There’s nothing better than standing on a big wave and feeling the power of it underneath your feet and just riding it all the way to the beach. There’s nothing better than that.”

(Music sequence)

HOLLY BECK
“Surfing is the best thing in the world, I can’t think of anything more fun!”

TIM WARDNER REPORTING