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JG: Regarding your equipment, do you prefer the tried-and-true or do you like to experiment with different boards and fin setups? Do you have a favorite all-time board?
SB: I'm not as experimental as a lot of people are. I don't really go for the big twin fin, massive fish tail type boards. I still ride fairly conventional equipment, a little bit of a fishy board but it still has the thruster setup even if it's a 5'4" with a rounded nose. I do like trying different boards but I generally stick to a thruster or something that I can still get speed and do a bunch of turns because I like to turn. If I want to cruise I'll ride a Mal, or a longboard or whatever you call it here.

Yes, I've had a magic board. The best board I ever had was a Rusty. I got a bunch of photos on it. I snapped it in Indonesia after one of the longest barrels I had ever got in my life at Lance's Right. The very next wave I snapped it clean in half. Oh well, at least I scored that wave before.

JG: In this awesome April 2000 Surfing Girl cover shot that I'm holding right here, you’re wearing a one-piece swimsuit and in all the other photos we've seen of you over the years, you primarily wear modest bikinis. Do you think the current trend of 'wear a thong, get the shot run' is detrimental to women’s surfing?
SB: I feel like it's an individual's choice. If a girl is choosing to wear one because she feels comfortable in that and she's not wearing it because that's the only way she can get a shot or attention, then great, go ahead. I think it's detrimental to the girl herself if she's wearing it for any other reason than that she thinks it's totally comfortable and that's what she really does want to surf in. Regarding it being detrimental to the whole of women's surfing ...it should all come down to an individual thing where it's what each person chooses. If it becomes where society is expectant on every girl wearing a g-string because one girl likes wearing a g-string, that's where I think it becomes detrimental.

JG: In one particular double page ad a decade ago, it looks like you're surfing a gnarly reef pass while wearing red trunks, a long-sleeve rash guard, a face full of zinc and even reef booties. It seems like there was a little more freedom back then to look however you liked or wear whatever you wanted. Would the girls be able to get away with that today?
SB: I definitely don't think they'd run a photo of a girl in a long-sleeve red rash vest, long boardies and booties (laughing). I don't think that would be as accepted today because there is more emphasis on wearing the thong, the two-piece or the sexy bikini. We did go through phases where they tried to tell us that we couldn't wear sunscreen while we were on an Indo boat trip because the magazine didn't want there to be any zinc or sunscreen in the photos. We were like, "Pfffff! Fine, don't take the photos then. Hello, we're surfing on the equator. As if we're not going to wear zinc." That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So that didn't last long. (laughter) There definitely isn't the freedom to wear what you would have worn then. I mean, I had a bowl cut and was wearing boys' boardshorts but that was pretty cool back then. It's a different world today that we're living in. It should be the same, like if you want to wear long boardies and booties and if you're doing a rad turn, then they should run it. But I don't think there's really the freedom to do that like there used to be which is a shame.

JG: Big subject change …let's close this out with something light and simple. Since you've become a recent fan of Bull Taco, we have to ask …is there good Mexican food in Australia?
SB: Awww, the old Mexican food in Australia question. Everyone pays out Australia so bad about our Mexican food. There's not good Mexican food in Australia …we're a long way from Mexico. It's like Mexican food Australian style. It's not authentic and a lot of the food is not real Mexican style. I know a lot of Californians come over and are like, "Are you kidding?" We have great Thai food though (laughs). We have more Thai restaurants than Thailand I think.

JG: Thank you Serena! Any parting thoughts or shout-outs?
SB: Really, just have fun and don't take life too seriously. I think we're here to have fun and enjoy life and not feel guilty about it. Everyone just have fun and keep surfing.

Read more about Serena Brooke at serenabrooke.com

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