Now Ainara is working on Sambal 2. So how comes a
follow up? “I thought the first one was sick, but the surfing
was pretty bad from my side... I feel like it wasn’t the
best I could do...” Pairing up with fellow Vans surf team
mate LeeAnne Curren, the two free-surfers headed to the
barrel-rich Mentawai’s for bigger waves. Not being used to
surfing bigger waves and admitting she would have been,
“scared if I went alone”, including Leanne in the follow up
Sambal project was a no-brainer: “She rips, and she takes
big waves... so we thought she could help me on the trip!”
Sambal 2 corroborates goofy-footer Ainara’s multi-talented
ability in free surfing, whilst allowing her to explore other
realms of her surfing in the Mentawai’s’ more menacing
sections. There’s an organic juxtaposition between the
punk-rockness of her shaving her head defiantly in the first
edit of Sambal, the radicalness of her surfing in both edits,
and Ainara’s calm nature.
As a young woman in her early 20s, Ainara stands out
for her relaxed manner and simply projecting the truest
image of herself. Without pandering to any classically
portrayed notions of what being a young female surfer
in your 20s is, or should look like, Ainara is striking for
her composed authenticity. This attitude forms part of
an inspiring new era for women’s surfing, where girls
like Ainara, without an agenda and by simply staying
true to themselves, are allowing for a more diverse and
wholesome portrayal of women’s surfing. In turn, critically,
this attitude is perhaps inspiring other girls who haven’t
previously conformed to stereotypical images of women’s
surfing, to have the confidence to get in the water. “The
‘surfer girl’, that whole image... it’s just because when you
get in the water, your hair gets blond...There’s nothing
wrong with that, but you can also be another way, like
black hair, rounder... so yeah, I like showing that,” Ainara
explains.
As well as juggling the career side of surfing, being
a young surfer in your teens and 20s clearly must have
some tricky balances to maintain. Ainara admits that, “the
past three years have been crazy. You have surfing, but
you also have your personal life – you have so many things
going on from 18-24. It’s so hard to leave home, leave
all your stuff, and your friends, family, or boyfriend. It’s so
hard, but you know you have to do it, and just go after it.”
After playing a juggling act for some time, dropping
competitive surfing and choosing happiness through free
surfing, pursuing her studies and allowing solid stints of
home time, Ainara found a way to combine everything. Her
free surfing career is clearly bringing her happiness. “They
never told me I could do this; they always told me I had to
do contests. Then finally, I found that this is my job, and
this is what I love to do, and that is the best thing ever.”
Follow Ainara @ainaraaymat“You have surfing,
but you also have
your personal
life – you have so
many things going
on from 18-24.”