An
Afternoon with Serena Brooke JettyGirl
Online Surf Magazine's Interview with
a Living Legend-
Photos by Chris Grant / JettyGirl.com
JettyGirl
Locals, Legends & Pro's
In
the mid-90's I went for a mid-morning
surf at Lowers when a nicely directed
head-high swell snuck into the famous
Southern California pointbreak. About
an hour into the session I saw a girl
surf waves like I had never seen them
surfed before. Wave after wave she'd
drive into flawless figure-8 roundhouse
cutbacks followed by extended tail-drop
floaters. I actually got out of the
water to watch, soon learning that
the surfer was none other than Australia's
Serena Brooke.
Fast forward
a decade and a half and over the past
couple of weeks I finally had the
opportunity to work with Serena. Spend
a day with her and you're left with
no doubt why she's been one of the
most beloved surfers of the past few
generations. When you mix talent with
good looks, quick wit, intelligence
and a dash of mischief, it makes for
an unforgettable individual. However,
while Serena's every bit a superstar,
she's also as down-to-earth as a good
friend you've known forever ...and
that's what I admire most about her.
We're honored and humbled to bring
you this interview with a living legend.
Enjoy! --Chris Grant
JettyGirl: You've been in California
for a while now. What will you be
up to for the rest of the year?
Serena Brooke: I've been in California
for a couple months but I'm actually
heading home tonight. I'm possibly
going to be doing a trip to China
for a surfing expedition and then
I'm headed to Hawaii for the Triple
Crown and to do Bud Light promos.
I've actually also got a trip to the
Bahamas on a cruise ship with Bud
Light Lime. Then, I'm going back to
Hawaii after that.
JG:
You were part of a group of women
who seemed to have it all …mainstream
women's surf magazines, all-girl surf
movies and a good deal of sponsorship
opportunities. Just this morning we
picked up a random sampling of fifteen
surf magazines from the late 1990's/early
2000's and discovered that you were
in over thirty full-page and double-page
ads. Do you ever feel like you were
part of a "golden age" in
women's surfing?
SB: Yes, I definitely feel like I
was part of a golden age. There was
the whole 90's boom in the surf world.
There was the Hollywood aspect with
Blue
Crush.
There was the women's boardshort revolution
with Roxy. The world was thriving
also at that point ...there were a
lot of girls-only surfing magazines
as well. We started getting standalone
events on the World Championship Tour.
The world economically was doing great
and everything was booming at that
point. I'm super grateful to have
been a part of it. It's definitely
a little different these days. There's
nowhere near the amount of coverage
available in the magazines and there
simply aren't many publications either.
At the time there was Surf Girl, Surfing
Girl, Wahine …probably five
magazines that were just dedicated
to women's surfing that aren't even
in publication anymore.
JG:
Nowadays, it seems like there's more money
for a few girls but less opportunity for
the majority of them. A couple of girls
on Tour are making a great living yet others
can barely scrape together enough pennies
to get to the next stop. With more young
surfers than ever hoping to make the Tour
someday, do you think female professional
surfing is still a viable career path?
SB: I think female professional surfing
is a great career path but it's true that
just a select few girls make a lot of money
doing that. You know you've either got to
be a real standout competitively like a
Stephanie Gilmore, just winning everything
or you need to be able to market yourself
in some way that's outside of the box and
be very savvy with always being in the media
…you know maybe someone like Claire
Bevilacqua who's got Bevo's Backwash and
who's always getting herself out there and
shooting a lot of photos. I definitely think
it's still possible ...it's just you have
to put hard work into it. That's always
been the same really but right now there
doesn't seem to be the amount of spots that
there used to be. However, if there's a
will, there's a way …and if you want
to put in the dedication and the hard work
and you surf really well, you can definitely
do that.
A lot of girls that
don't even surf that well can make money
and a really good career out of the surf
world by pursuing modeling, surfing and
that whole thing. There are definitely opportunities,
it's just how you want to approach it and
what you're willing to sacrifice of yourself.
Some people don't want to go down the mainstream
path of wearing the tiny bikini and doing
the photo shoots and acting a little bit
like a bimbo to get attention. I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with that if that's
what you're into but that's not for everyone
either. It seems like there is a little
bit of a narrow doorway when it comes to
making it. It's not really a broad spectrum
like it is on the men's side of things.
You can be crazy and not the prettiest surfer
boy but if you surf great, you can have
an attitude and that'll work for you and
you can build upon that. However, that doesn't
really cross over to women's surfing. They
want the girls that fit a certain mold ...it's
limiting and one dimensional which I don't
think it should be. We're all different.
It would be boring if all the girls were
exactly the same. I think that the surfing
world could definitely learn from the rest
of the world and other sports and the reality
of what is …which is that we're not
all exactly the same blonde haired, stereotyped
surfer girl. We have a lot of characters…
"You can be crazy and not the prettiest surfer
boy but if you surf great, you can have an attitude
and that'll work for you and you can build upon that.
However, that doesn't really cross over to women's surfing."
.
There was the women's boardshort revolution
with Roxy. The world was thriving
also at that point ...there were a
lot of girls-only surfing magazines
as well. We started getting standalone
events on the World Championship Tour.
The world economically was doing great
and everything was booming at that
point. I'm super grateful to have
been a part of it. It's definitely
a little different these days. There's
nowhere near the amount of coverage
available in the magazines and there
simply aren't many publications either.
At the time there was Surf Girl, Surfing
Girl, Wahine …probably five
magazines that were just dedicated
to women's surfing that aren't even
in publication anymore.