HARRISON WHITESIDE
Surfers in the South Island are almost like one giant family, while the numbers participating in the art aren’t of the volumes further north, nearly every surfer down these ways knows each other. Over the years this family type environment has really nurtured some of the top grommets coming from the region, the likes of Shaydar Edelman, Hayden Brain, Nat Parsons and more, were all taken under the wings of older surfers who acted as great role models and got behind their young prodigy’s career. Harrison is no different, with an army of older and more experienced surfers already singing his praises and pushing him to new heights. An epic environment to excel in. He is our grom on the rise.
Age: 15 Nicknames: Nothing really - Harry and Haz get thrown round now and then. Where were you born and grew up? Straight out of Christchurch. Boards: CSA 5’7’’ x 19” x 2 1/16”, CSA 5’9’’ x 18 5/8” x 2 1/8”, Webber 5’7” x 18 1/8” x 2 1/3”. Oh and my 10ft stand-up, that is the magic stick. Sponsors: O’NEILL, Exit Surf, Arnette, Ocean and Earth, Kinectic Racing and CSA Surfboards.
Contest results: 1st under 14 national scholastic 2011, Surfing NZ Series 2011. 2nd in under 14’s, 1st under 14’s South Island’s two years in a row and I have won a few of the under 20’s division down south recently.
When did you start surfing and what on? Nine years old on the foamie.
Who have been your biggest influences growing up surfing in Christchurch? Dave O’Rourke has helped me all the way through from the foamie to the short board, everyone in Brighton Board Riders and of course all my mates that I surf with, we all push each others surfing.
If you were to attribute your success as a grom to one thing, what would it be? My Mum and Dad. Mum films me all day at the beach sometimes and all the support I get from them is amazing, I would be getting no where without them and of course all my mates that push my surfing.
Your home city of Chch was hit by massive devastation in the earthquake, beaches were closed due to sewerage leaks, so surfing was a no go, is surfing something that you even think about at a time like that or do you just dig in and help out where you can? I was fortunate to have my mum drive me 50 minutes up the coast after some school days to surf, and I tried to travel away as much as possible on weekends as I would struggle to go a week without a surf. Some of my distant family had bad liquefaction around their house after one of the quakes and I helped them out to save their house from flooding, were I live in Sumner we were fortunate not to have much liquefaction around us. There was rock fall just down the road but there was not much that I could help out with.
Were you personally affected by the earthquake? I was lucky not to have any close family die, as we all go to school and work near town. We are fortunate compared to some people. We have damage to our house like thousands of other houses in Christchurch. My Dads business is struggling as lots of the local people the visited his practice have moved out of the area. For me I was a bit jumpy and on edge through the period of the quakes, sleeping was hard with the constant after shocks. At that period I was doing a bit of travelling up north for the comps so it was great to get away.
Favourite waves in NZ: Maungamanu in Kaikoura and Wainui in Gisborne. Worst wave in NZ: North Wai. Biggest waves tackled: Solid 7ft at Taylors Mistake only me and my man Max Marshall out. Best session ever: Same session as the biggest wave I tackled, was all time! Middle of winter no one in sight. Favourite surfers: Dane Reynolds and Matt Wilkinson Tricks or power surfing? Mixture of both is the one. Overseas travel: Oz and Panama with the NZ team. Waves you would like to surf most overseas?: The beach breaks in France. Goals: To win multiple national titles, to have my blog viewed by a larger audience and compete successfully on a international level.
Interests: love skating on the flat days, music and I quite like fashion haha. Favourite food: sushi from the local shop can’t beat it. Who do you surf with most? Ashlee, Max, Olly and Stefan. The best wave you have ever caught? Where and what happened? Yesterday at Taylors, got a little barrel/shampoo then did the biggest air I have done. If you where a cartoon character what would you be?: Dora the explorer. What annoys you the most?: KOOKS AT TAYLORS MISTAKE WHO HAVE NO RESPECT!! Dislikes: Townies and kooks. Best thing you have ever done: Gone to the local op-shop, two dollars for everything in the shop, shoes, shirts, you name it. Silliest thing you have ever done: I have accidentally taken a leak in the chicks bathroom at school, from a certain angle
it looks like it says.. men haha. If you won lotto what would you do? Shout all the boys on a big surf trip around the world, then buy a house away from Christchurch, then invest my money or save my money wisely. What are your thoughts on smoking?: If people would like to damage their body by all means they can, but for them to be passing on dangerous chemicals to people standing near or around them is just selfish. Shout outs: to all the boys Max, Rory, Ashlee, Olly, Stefan, Jude and Lucus. Thanks heaps to the guys at O’NEILL , EXIT SURF and ARNETTE for helping me out. Thanks to my coach Dave, and Wazza for shooting me. Also can’t forget them Mum and Dad for all the support thanks so much!