Carissa Moore interview
HUCK talks to the surfing wunderkind who has now graduated into big league of the ASP World Tour.
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Record-breaking surfer Carissa Moore made headlines again this summer when she won the US Open of Surfing two weeks before her eighteenth birthday. It’s a huge milestone for the Honolulu local, marking her transition from wildcard wunderkind to fully-fledged ASP World Tour professional.
HUCK recently caught up with her to discuss school, spirituality and her new life on the tour.
HUCK: So, how does it feel to be on the ASP World Tour?
Carissa Moore: It’s definitely really exciting. Growing up, I’ve done a couple of the tour events as a wildcard so actually being on the tour and being part of the top seven team has been a transition and a change. It’s been very exciting. I’m really enjoying travelling to different places and learning how to adapt.
Have you had to step up your game?
Um, I definitely think that I’ve had to change my approach and the way that I look at the events. Actually surfing on tour and not being a wildcard, you don’t just go into it just surfing and not really caring about the result. Now that I’m on tour, I have to think about the result and collecting points in the year overall. I think in that sense, I’ve had to change my approach.
Do you try and set yourself apart from the other girls?
I guess if I do anything consciously different, I think it’s just that I work really closely with my dad. My dad is my coach and he’s one of my best friends. And I think the best thing about him is he’s really honest with me about surfing. It’s really awesome because sometimes when I don’t even believe in myself, he does and helps me push myself to new limits. I think I’m just trying to be creative with my surfing and the way that I approach a wave.
How has it been balancing school and surfing?
It was a little challenging at times but I’m really glad that my parents supported my education and wanted me to stay in school. It was such a wonderful experience. I stayed in the same school my whole school career and I got to grow up with a great group of friends. It was hard sometimes doing tests and carrying around books but the whole motion of going to school has always been really fun and definitely taught me how to stay organised and learn how to keep things balanced.
Do you ever think you’ll go back into education?
I definitely think so. I’ve had that question a lot recently because many of my friends are leaving to go to college and even though I’m going to be taking a few years off, I really want to go back to school. One of the things I’d love to do is become an elementary school teacher so I might go into learning different types of education but we’ll see.
Is it weird that all your friends are going to college and you aren’t?
No, you know what the coolest part is I’ve always felt really normal with my friends. Even though things have been a little different and I have missed out on some things, like prom and stuff like that, which was a little sad, but I’ve got to do some amazing things and I’m really lucky. I’m actually going to visit one of my really good friends at school in a couple of weeks and get a little taste of college life and my best friend is a gymnast so we can really relate on many levels.
What about all the drinking and going out?
I’m actually really proud to say that I have never drank. Not to say that whoever has is bad at all but I’ve never really had or felt the drive to need or want to do that. I think I can say I’m the best sober rager around because I can have a good time and not have anything at all!
What have been the biggest sacrifices you’ve had to make?
I think I’d just have to say I’m really lucky and every sacrifice has been worth it. I haven’t really had to make too big sacrifices but I think just missing a few of my school functions was sometimes a little bit of a bummer. I’ve just enjoyed my whole journey and I’m so lucky to be doing what I’m doing so I don’t really regret missing it but it would have been nice to have been there.
Who are your heroes?
Well, I have to say that my dad is my number one hero in my life. He’s always been there for me and we have a great relationship and he’s been there for me through everything. My dad is a surfer. He was a really good swimmer when he was younger, he won a lot of open water swims in Hawaii and trained with some Olympic coaches at one point, so he’s been a waterman his entire life.
What do you love about surfing?
I think my favourite thing about it is the challenge and I have so much passion for it, it can be frustrating at times because I’m not getting the moves I wanted or I’m not getting the waves. But that’s just because I love it so much, the feeling of being on a wave and looking down the line and being creative. You can try anything. You get to play. And I’m really lucky to be doing something I love.
Are you a spiritual person?
I do feel pretty centered right now [laughs]. I take time to think about what’s going on in my life and where I want to go and who I am. I think a lot. I like to write, I keep a diary. I’m a very emotional person so if something’s bothering me, I need to talk about it, I can’t just ignore it. So I think in that sense I feel very in tune with my feelings and what’s going on around me.
Your blog is very honest. Is that part of wanting to share your feelings?
I want to be able to connect with people and I think sometimes when you hear or talk about people in sports, all you can hear are the positive parts. I think for me, I want to say like, ‘you know there are frustrating times in life, but if you keep going and plugging away you are going to get to those highs and those highs will be that much higher and sweeter because you just have this passion for living.’ You just have to kind of accept and appreciate and embrace those parts of life because that’s life, and it’s beautiful.
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Carissa Moore interview (text) by Shelley Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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