In search of that one, big, perfect wave
TAMMY-LEE Smith, who made surfing history by being the first South African woman to be invited to the Big Wave Championships in Hawaii, is hoping for another invitation this year.
In the meantime, 31-yearold Smith, of Ballito, has been getting in some practice with the Big Wave Women’s World Champion, Paige Alms of Hawaii, and another big-wave surfing star, Bianca Valenti of the US.
“They came over for a month so we could chase swells and form bonds and push each other even more. We have been travelling around the country and scoring some big waves,” said Smith, who was a professional surfer on the world circuit for six years.
And the two visiting bigwave experts found exactly what they were looking for on the last leg of their holiday in Jeffreys Bay, so they extended their stay to try out the 10- to 12-foot waves.
The biggest waves Smith has encountered in South Africa were 15ft, but the biggest she has surfed were 20ft, at the World Surf League’s Big Wave Women’s World Championship at Jaws, at Maui in Hawaii.
Smith was a wild card for the event and had just 48 hours to get to Hawaii to compete.
“It was a crazy experience. There were big waves. I hadn’t slept and had travelled for two days,” she recalled. “It looks like the venue will be Jaws again and I am hoping to be invited again – but with 96 hours’ notice,” she said.
Competitors are invited based on videos of their bigwave experiences.
The next big-wave season will be from November to January.
Now an environmentalist, Smith gets in all the big-wave training she can, which means travelling to two Cape Town spots, Dungeon and Sunset, when the big swells come in.
“It is an expensive sport as you have to be able to travel at the drop of a hat. I check the charts and haven’t missed a swell this year,” said Smith, who keeps her big wave boards (a 9’6 Twig surfboard and a 10’2 Ian Armstrong) in Cape Town.
She has always loved big waves, but it is only in the last 18 months that she has focused all her energy on them.
“It’s been a fantastic journey so far. There are definitely times that I feel really scared, but I do it for the joy it brings me.
“I just want to get a really amazing big barrel like I saw Paige get at Jaws and Bianca had in Mexico. I am just hunting down that one, big perfect one,” she said.
Smith prepares by spending “a lot of time” in the gym on high-intensity training and strengthening her legs, although most of her time is spent in the pool doing breath training.