How Pro surfer Laura Enever finds inner strength

Plus the power of saying no

The pro surfer and big-wave rider talks banishing doubts and breaking world records.

The pro surfer and big-wave rider talks banishing doubts and breaking world records.

You started riding waves as a kid on Sydney’s northern beaches. When did you decide you wanted to pursue a professional career in surfing? 

I grew up in the Northern Beaches and my mum and dad both love the beach. My dad, he's been a surfer since he was a teenager. So when I was a kid, my life revolved around the beach - all our holidays were up and down the East Coast, taking the four wheel drive on the beach and camping and surfing. But, at that time, I was super into gymnastics and spending all of my spare time in the gymnastics centre. I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, but just wasn't really flexible enough. Then, when I was 11 years old, I just got the surf bug and all the posters from gymnastics went down. And I was like, I want to be a world champion surfer. Everything went pretty quickly from there.

I was surfing before and after school with my brother in Narrabeen with the North Narrabeen board riders - a pretty well renowned board riders club. I was one of the only girls in my age group in the club, so I just competed against boys. And I think that gave me that push for my little competitive streak at a young age. And then when I got into comps, I qualified for the World Tour at 17. And from age 18 to basically 25, I was on the world Championship tour and went around and competed with my heroes. For five years in a row I got about 10th place. And then I decided to sort of give up that dream. At the time, I thought I'd still be on the World Tour - I thought I was doing that for life - but I just found this new love for big wave surfing. 

When I was 11, I got invited to the Lisa Andersen Champ Camp in Hawaii [Andersen is a four-time world surfing champion]. I got to surf with my heroes over there. I was so inspired and just wanted to become a pro. I was obsessed with surfing – I was constantly late for school because the waves would be good. I probably spent just as much time in the ocean as on land as a kid. I still go to Hawaii every year for the winter season, and it’s really cool to go back there and just reflect on my evolution in the sport.

What were some of the challenges you faced on your way to becoming one of the world’s best surfers?

I think getting on the world tour and all of a sudden having a hobby that is your life. It's a lifestyle, surfing, and as kids we'd just be obsessed with getting out on the ocean every day - it was a happy place. And having that turn from a fun hobby into a job, really quickly overnight, I think I just wasn't really ready for it at 17/18 years old. And being thrown onto the world stage and being a young girl, still working out who I was and then everything coming up really quickly - the management, the sponsors, the pressure - I just wasn't prepared for that really.

I always wanted to keep the fun in surfing because it’s more than a sport – it’s a lifestyle. But when things got more serious, the pressure just became too much. I wasn’t really equipped with how to deal with the stress and people wanting you to win, and then having really bad losing streaks and how to handle that. I ended up finding a sports psychologist who helped me through. I think back then, mental health wasn’t really spoken about. It was like, you got the dream job, keep pushing through. But always coming back to my ‘why’ was what got me through. I always tried to make sure I was having fun, but at one point, it wasn't fun. And I was like, this isn't right. This is surfing. Surfing is a soul sport. And as much as it is this competitive business and job of mine, there's no point doing it if you're not doing it from your heart.

So I think just coming back to that became really important for me, and that’s sort of where my love for big wave surfing was born as well. In between my competitions I was sneaking off to go chase swells around the world and I realised that I was not feeling as fulfilled just competing. And so I went and started chasing these swells and then I realised this is what I love. And then I started surfing bigger and bigger and bigger waves. And then I made the decision in 2017 to leave the tour and chase big wave surfing, even though there was no where near as much money in it. You kind of spend all your money to go and chase these swells and you risk getting injured and then spending a lot of time out of the ocean.

You competed on the WSL Women’s Championship Tour for seven years, consistently finishing in the top 10, before making the decision in 2017 to leave the tour and chase big-wave surfing. What was the response?

My family were like, “Are you sure you want to do this?” I definitely had some doubts. But I just knew, even though it’s going to be hard, I had to go for it. When I surfed in Hawaii at Jaws [Maui’s biggest break], that was my first time in monster waves and I got the worst injury of my career. A lot of people thought I wasn’t strong enough to surf those waves and that it’s just too dangerous because I got injured straight away. When I was recovering, I decided I wanted to get back out there. I don’t care if someone says I’m too petite or not strong enough or not built like [American big-wave surfer] Laird Hamilton. I left the tour and everyone was like, “You’re just going to get injured again.” It’s like people were scared for me. But I want to do this and I’ve done everything I can to do it in the safest way possible. If I get injured, it’s on me and I’m OK with that. 

It sounds like being underestimated was a bit of a motivator. Do you think that's fair to say? 

Totally yeah. People underestimated me for sure. There was a point where I really wanted to prove to people that I could be there and I could hold my own. And then I realised I was doing it too much for proving purposes and that I’ve got to do this for me and only me - and that's when the magic started really happening and things started aligning. I'd get these incredible waves and it's all because I want to do it and I’m not doing it for anyone else. 

You hold the world record for the ‘largest wave surfed paddle-in (female)’ for surfing a 43.6-foot wave on the North Shore of O’ahu, Hawaii. How did it feel to break that record?

I went out there thinking, “Let’s just see what happens. If it’s too intense, you don’t have to do it.” It empowered me to know the ball’s in my court. Once I get into the line-up, then it all becomes intuition and trying to work with the ocean. But if it’s not feeling right, I don’t have to do it. And saying no is just as powerful as saying yes and going for it. I did have a bit of impostor syndrome for the first couple of years of big-wave surfing. I just constantly pushed through and tried to block out any of the criticism. When I caught that big wave for the world record, that was just the pinnacle of my career because in that session, I had never had more trust in where I was, what I was doing and that I should be there. I’d let go of everything, any of the doubts. And then that magical moment happened with that wave and I got the world record.

You’ve become known for your fearless approach to surfing big waves and waves of consequence. Where does that mental strength and fearlessness come from?

I think having an older brother is where it initially came from - when we were younger we pushed each other. I think we always had this little spark and we were both very sporty and we were both always trying to go higher, trying to do more and more flips and pushing ourselves in gymnastics. And I think that translated over into our surfing. When we were out there and the waves got big, Chris would be like, ‘let's go’. And you know, even if I was scared, I wanted to keep up with him. So he initially sparked me into getting out in these big waves and overcoming the fears as a kid and finding that comfort within a very big, scary ocean. My mum was like, ‘yeah you guys would paddle out on days not many guys would even go out and you'd think it was fun’.

As well as making history you also had an impressive start to your career too. As someone who has achieved so much in a relatively short period, how do you set and maintain your personal and professional goals?

I'm a person that doesn't think too far ahead. I'm not a five year plan girl. When I moved into big wave surfing, I just had these little goals that I'd chip away at. It was a way for me to feel like I was just making these little wins along the way. Big wave surfing makes me the best version of myself and I love being able to wake up and work towards that and then eventually have these moments in the ocean. That's what keeps me so excited, because you never know when that next swell’s coming around. You never know how big it's going to be. 

Now, I’ve kind of made a bit more of an on/off season for myself so I can have a bit more fun and do other work in the middle of the year when it's the wintertime here, but summertime in the northern hemisphere, and then get ready and training for the Hawaii winter. 

Surfing big waves can be tough on the body. What training habits do you follow to help stay on top of your fitness and ensure you can keep surfing for as long as you want to? 

I love doing weight work - body weight stuff - and I try a whole lot of different sorts of training. I love pilates as well. But mostly I do body weight work and foundation training. For big wave surfing, for me, the biggest and most beneficial training is breath hold training. I do a lot of training in the pool and try to get my breath hold up to about three and a half to four minutes. I haven't got to four minutes yet. Before a big wave season I want my breath hold to be about 3.5 minutes.

We're trained to, as soon as you get dumped, kind of flick a switch in your head and basically go into this state where you're letting the wave just take you and ragdoll you. You protect your head and you just have to go floppy and try to use no air - so you can hold your breath longer. Because if you're fighting and thrashing and swimming, you're using that oxygen supply that you're holding your breath with. So you therefore don't have as much oxygen to hold your breath. So basically you want to go as still as possible, still your mind, have your heart rate as low as possible. So all of that breath hold training teaches you to just keep the heart rate down and use the least amount of energy as possible so you can get through those scary situations. 

I wear a wetsuit that has canisters in it that you can pull and it inflates. So if you get in trouble, you have four canisters in the back of it and it can help you come to the surface quicker. So if you've got a big wave and you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you've been down for too long, it just brings you up to the top - but you also can't completely rely on that. So that's why we just make sure our breath holds are up to scratch. And, it just gives you that confidence knowing that if my vest didn’t work, then I can hold my breath and make it through this.

Mental wellbeing is as important as physical health. What strategies do you use to stay mentally resilient, especially during high-pressure situations like finals or surfing big waves?

For a while when I was at the end of my competitive career, I was having moments where I was struggling to calm my mind in heats. But when I go into the big wave arena, it’s the opposite. I’m just the most calm, focussed version of myself. I'm going into death defying situations and I’m the calmest version of myself. I'd be surfing a tiny wave in a competition, and I was struggling to control my heart rate. But when I go into the big wave arena, I can switch into this place in my mind and it's incredible. That's why I think I loved it. I love being able to show myself that I can go into that place and surf these waves and catch these waves. Like this other side of me comes out when I'm doing it. It's literally instinctual. It's like you go into this survival mode. But like excited survival mode too. I've had sessions before where I've been so scared and thought ‘why do I do this?’ And then I remember ‘you don't have to do this’ and I've paddled away. Then I've had times when I've been out there and I think ‘this is why I do this’ and it just feels amazing. And so I think it's always just connecting with that sense of self, understanding the ‘why’ and always coming back to that.

Now the older I get, the more I rely on breathwork, like box breathing. Anything to keep me calm. I have had times when I have been overcome with fear, and things haven't felt right and that's when I've had to rely on box breathing to actually get me out of that place. The fear just comes for anyone at any time. And so it's trying to just take any of that negative energy and negative thoughts away. 

Between your career as a professional surfer, chasing big waves, competing, commentating and the work you do with brands like Cariuma (Laura is a Cariuma Brand Ambassador), you are very busy. How do you balance all of those different demands on your time and ensure you don’t burn out? 

I’ve picked up amazing sponsors that have supported me and brands that have aligned with me and it's because of them that I get to do what I do and get to keep travelling and surfing and having this opportunity. I feel so lucky. And even though I am busy, I just feel like these opportunities are so incredible. I love being able to work with brands like Cariuma, it’s so cool that they have now launched in Australia. When I first started wearing them, I borrowed a pair off my friends and I found out they were vegan and also a sustainable shoe brand. It's just cool to see so many brands now making better choices for the planet. As surfers, we love the ocean so much. We bow down to it and we try to do everything we can to protect the ocean. 

What’s next for you? 

I'm actually launching a soft top collaboration with world champion Mick Fanning - we made a sustainable soft top. Then, pretty much just getting ready for the Hawaii season again. I'll find out soon if I get invited to The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational event, which is a yearly event, but it doesn't run every year. You’ve got to wait for this, like, perfect swell. It's my absolute dream to compete in that event. So I’ll be getting ready for that and just whatever swell pops up along the way. I could be sitting here and then in two weeks time, chasing a swell to the other side of the world. It keeps it very exciting. But my calendar is just ridiculous. I'm the worst friend because I have plans with someone, and all of a sudden they'll just fall through because I'm just like, I gotta go chase these waves. 

Originally published as How Pro surfer Laura Enever finds inner strength