Compared to other sports or pastimes – take, for example, football or skateboarding binging a platter of Jell-O shots – surfing is something that accommodates age.
Whether you’re young or old, you can surf. At least in some compacity; you might add a little length and volume to your board as you get older, or paddle out at smaller, more gentle surf spots, but you can still go out and ride waves. Hell, look at Kelly Slater.
Take, for example, Costa Rican pro surfer Brisa Hennessy and her 80-year-old grandma, who recently went for a tandem session.
Captioning the clip, Hennessy wrote:
“This is 80!!!! It’s never too late to catch a wave, it’s never too late. 🙂 So special sharing my happy place with my grandma.”
As for the octogenarian, here’s her commentary throughout the session:
“I’m going to die.
“No, I’m going to be fine.
“I was telling the waves to be nice.”
Surf world acolytes chimed in with praise:
“One of the best posts I’ve ever seen!” – Kelly Slater
“Well there’s the pinnacle of your surf life! It can’t get any better than that! Well done the both of you :)” – Alex Gray
“This is amazing!! Made me smile” – Alyssa Spencer
“SOOO AMAZINGGG” – Laura Enever
“This is sooooo awesome!!!!!” – Paige Alms
“Yessss Gooo Grammy Spice” – Sally Fitzgobbons
“This is the coolest thing ever!!” – Macy Callaghan
So on and so forth.
While 80 years old is quite the feat to be still surfing, there’s others out there who are further into their twilight years, and continuing to ride waves.
Like 89-year-old Seiichi Sano, who won the Guinness World Record of the “oldest person to surf (male).” After the achievement, Sano said:
“Whether it be surfing or world record titles, it’s the can-do attitude that will get you there, not logic. Don’t complicate things. Just think that even this old grandpa’s done it – you should be able to achieve something as well!”
Never too late.
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