Sigourney Speed Weaver

I’m not saying where, but we definitely weren’t in Sydney when that big east coast low hit a few months back. On the first day it was so big we probably could have used skis, a lot of spots were maxing out and you had to be pretty on the ball with where to go. Some of the older crew said they’d never seen it like that. The good ones were mad, but you’d take a few on the head to get there, because these wash-throughs were hitting the deep water then surging up on the ledge. That kept us on our toes for sure.

Scoring this joint was pretty special, it doesn’t turn on like that too often. That swell was just a freak of nature, with some solid eight to ten foot barrels, where you’d be bouncing on the foamball and have to scrape to get out of there. I was stoked to get a few good ones with Tyler and push her into a couple. She was surfing amazing. Some of the barrels she made were heaps better than mine, and probably better than alot of the other guys out there. I think Tyler really stepped up her game especially after that ten at the Fiji contest. She was surfing with a new level of confidence, and I knew she was frothing so there were no excuses for pulling back on this swell. I said to her, “You gotta go the bigger ones now.” We both egg each other on, it’s pretty funny. It’s always been like that growing up together.

I’m not trying to talk my sister up, but surfing with her this session she really stepped up to the plate in some heavy conditions. The game is changing for women’s surfing, and Tyler’s getting amongst it big time. We’ve surfed reefs together growing up, and she’s not scared to go those waves, she knows she’s got the talent to push herself over the ledge into square barrels and I don’t see many other chicks taking late drops into an 8-10 footer. I was so stoked to see that, I remember one of her good ones she knifed the takeoff and just pulled up and under the lip then started racing hard through the barrel, like a full speed weaver through the pit. Her best wave of the day was this crazy slab that caught us offguard, like it jacked up and started draining off the rock and I called her into it, and Tyler said, “Nah it’s alright,” but I told her “Nah, you’re going it!” And something clicked, she got fired up and just went “OORRRIGHT!” Then spun, paddled as hard as she could and was into it super late, it was so sick. She knifed under it, and got super deep the whole way, it spat once and she was still in there weaving, then it spat her out into the channel. To see her surf on that level was a pretty special moment for me. She’s pushing the limits but I think she will continue to push it further. We always push each other in the water.