The first time she rode, the only pressure was the weight of her feet upon her father’s shoulders. Like many of Kaua‘i’s many surf stories, Malia Manuel’s began in the waters of Hanalei Bay. At 3 years old, wearing a
The first time she rode, the only pressure was the weight of her feet upon her father’s shoulders.
Like many of Kaua‘i’s many surf stories, Malia Manuel’s began in the waters of Hanalei Bay. At 3 years old, wearing a child’s life vest, Manuel would paddle out with her father Selso on his longboard. When a wave came, he put her on top of his shoulders and they rode the face back to the shore. They surfed for fun. They surfed for themselves.
Fifteen years later, Manuel continues to surf, only now she’s on the largest stage in the world with a lot more pressure.
Following a 2011 season that saw the now 18-year-old Wailua native finish first in the Association of Surfing Professional’s World Qualifying Series, Manuel is just weeks away from her debut as a member of the 2012 ASP Women’s World Tour.
The women’s tour is an exclusive 17-member club, with events spanning the globe. The first competition, the Roxy Pro, takes places on Australia’s Gold Coast the last week of February.
As just one of four rookies on the tour, Manuel knows there will be an extra spotlight on this first event. With the women’s and men’s tours both competing down under, Manuel’s first ride as one of the world’s best will be put under the microscope.
“It’s a huge event, and I feel like the media puts a ton of pressure on this event (more) than I normally would,” said Manuel, who’s enjoying her last few weeks at home in Hawai‘i before departing for the season.
The first event of the season may be a bit much to handle, but Manuel’s appearance on the tour is nothing short of expected. Manuel’s ascent to the world’s elite has been an assortment of triumphs and met expectations.
In 2008, she became the youngest female ever to win the U.S. Open of Surfing. She gained entry as a wild card, but came away with a victory for the record books. It was at this competition that Manuel’s overflowing potential caught the attention of the surfing world.
“When she won the U.S. Open it was like, ‘OK, this girl is the real deal,’” said Shaun Ward, Manuel’s O’Neill team manger. “She was one of the best surfers in the world and she was only 14.”
The next year, Manuel claimed the Nike 6.0 Pro Junior title. Entering last season’s qualifying series, she was projected to be a front-runner.
But something unusual happened. She struggled.
In Manuel’s first four six-star events, she failed to finish better than 13th — including a frustrating 25th place finish at the Drug Aware Pro in Maragaret River, Australia.
Prior to the season, Manuel’s experience had mainly included amateur competition and filming for surfing movies.
“I forgot how competitive the girls were these days. I was getting really frustrated,” she said.
Come July, Manuel had plummeted down the rankings. Needing to finish the end of the year in the ASP Star Ranking’s Top 6 in order to qualify for the women’s tour, Manuel knew she needed to refocus herself toward the competition.
Manuel’s work started paying dividends with a second-place finish at the Super Girl Pro Junior in mid-August. She followed that with a fifth place finish at the Sri Lankan Airline Pro two weeks later.
With two events left in the season, Manuel needed two big finishes to qualify. She won them both.
Ward said at the halfway point of the year, most figured it was time for Manuel to start planning for the following season. The late-season comeback followed by two wins was almost unheard of.
“Midway through, it was like ‘OK, you might not have a chance to make the world tour,” Ward recalled. “But then she had that back half — won those two events. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Her wins catapulted her to a first-place overall finish, qualifying her for the women’s tour and a spot as one of the world’s elite.
“There are only 17 girls on the tour, and I’ve been working to get to this spot since I was 8 years old,” she said.
Manuel likes to think of herself as a normal Kauaian teenager. She likes to run and go on hikes. She does yoga and enjoys seeing her local friends. But that’s where most of the parallels with others her age end.
Most teenagers aren’t sponsored by O’Neill. Most teenagers don’t travel the world on a regular basis. And most teenagers don’t become the second woman ever to land on the cover of Transworld Surf magazine like Manuel did last August. She’s trying to be normal as much as she can in the next few weeks, because when she departs for Australia in the first week of February, Manuel won’t see much of home until the end of the season in September.
Manuel will spend more than two months just in Australia. She’s hoping to make it back home for possibly a week before departing for Brazil, then Europe, in a constant stream of events and appearances.
Luckily for Manuel, she doesn’t leave all of the comforts of home here on Kaua‘i. Traveling with Manuel to every event is her mom, Christy Manuel.
Manuel, who won’t turn 19 until August, said traveling with her mom keeps her sane and grounded while on the road. “She keeps me humble. It’s really beneficial for me,” Manuel said. “We stay away from the whole scene. We like to run away and go cook our own food. She gives me the comfort and home feeling on the road.”
For Christy Manuel, being there for her daughter is crucial, but leaving her husband and Kaua‘i for half the year takes perseverance and dedication. While the women are away, Selso Manuel continues to work at the St. Regis in Princeville as he has for the past 20 years.
“It’s a lot of fun but it’s hard,” Christy Manuel said. “My husband is kind enough to work hard for us. We feel bad about that, but he wants me to be with her on the road.”
The Manuels have been slowly adjusting over the years to the stresses of traveling. Manuel has ventured to big surf competitions for most of her formative years so, by now, her mom said, the pair is used to the grind the season brings.
“It’s getting easier, but there is just so much prep when you go somewhere,” Christy Manuel said. “And then when you come home, it’s all about catching up with people.”
Manuel didn’t set out to become a professional surfer. Both her parents surfed for fun and didn’t put pressure on Manuel to make a career out of it.
But when Manuel started showing promise on the waves at age 8, and then started consistently winning competitions at age 10, her parents knew something special was happening every time Manuel hit the waves.
It may not have been her initial intention, but Manuel has embraced being a professional surfer and is driven to further her assault against the world’s best, all the while representing Kaua‘i as best she can.
“She has this raw Hawaiian style that a lot of Kaua‘i surfers have. She’s fearless when she attacks the ocean,” Ward said. “But she’s given it a female style. She makes it graceful and is now a world-class surfer.”
Entering her rookie season, Manuel will be met yet again with tough competition and a list of expectations.
The women’s tour will pit her against the best surfers in the world. Ward said O’Neill would like her to win Rookie of the Year honors.
Manuel said a modest goal of hers is just to re-qualify for the tour, meaning she’d have to place in the top 10. Her more ambitious goal is a top-five finish and a perennial mention as one of the world’s best.
It will be a tough and emotional year, but as Manuel said, “Sometimes people work well under pressure.”
At Manuel’s rate, she’ll be competing under pressure for many years to come.
