Interview by Corinne Evans
Photo: Chris from People of the Sea
Name: Emily Currie
Age: 19
Location: Bude, Cornwall
Facebook – Emily Currie / Instagram – emilyyy_currie
Emily, how did it feel the win theEnglish National Women’s Longboard Title a few weeks ago?
Yeah really good, I’ve won it twice previously, so to make it a third felt really good.
What training have you been doing?
My training is mainly just to surf as much as possible when the waves allow and I’ve also been doing fitness training with Heidi @ The Unit in Bude since September, so I’m definitely my fittest I’ve ever been. She pushes me really hard and we train 4 times a week, so it’s super intense.
What do you do on the contest day, do you have a ritual?
I don’t have much of a “ritual”, I just kind of love to see all my friends at the comps, catch up, then just chill out before my heats, relax a bit. Then get changed like 40 minutes early, get focused, do a good solid warm up & then head in. Oh and have a banana before every heat ha,ha!
What’s the best thing about competitive surfing?
I think seeing my friends, it’s so easy to just solely focus on the competition, but I love catching up and seeing everyone. But as well I do like competing itself, I’m very competitive and always have been… I think it gets the best out of my surfing, because it’s the only time I really think of getting the most critical turns in as many times as possible, I’m very good at just going for the biggest turn I can on the wave then finishing. It makes me get the most out of each wave.
Photo: Checkered Photography
Who do you look up to most in women’s surfing?
I have a few inspirations, probably not the usual ones, but the likes of Chelsea Williams, I think she absolutely chargers, she is such a good longboarder, really solid mix of good style, nose riding and big turns. She isn’t the usual really skinny, pretty dancer you usually see in longboarding, she surfers so good and is an inspiration to many aspiring professional longboarders.
Do you have your sights set on another win and what’s your next event?
My next longboarding event is the Longboard QS in Vieux Boucau, France which I’m super excited for, the standard is really high on the European Longboard Tour at the moment which is great as it pushes me to improve for every event. I got a 3rd and a 9th at the LQS events last year so I’m just hoping to improve on those results and hopefully climb a few places on the rankings at the end of the year!
What did you get up to this winter?
This winter has been the first without school for me so I took complete advantage of it and spent 3 months in Australia! Surfing all day every day in a bikini in the sunshine was a dream ha, ha! My surfing has definitely improved because of it and we also got to do lots of sightseeing and travelling to so it was one big adventure!
What do you have coming up over the next few months?
I will be competing in the European Longboard QS events and the UK Pro Surf events. At the end of this month Sarah Clarke from Checkered Photography and myself are going on a road trip to Vieux Boucau as I’m going to compete in the Longboard Pro. I’m currently 5th in the WSL standings and the only lady competing from the UK so we are stoked to be working together to capture all of the trip.
