Two teenage surfers have brought gold to the Garden Isle.
Rylan Beavers of Kilauea and Malia Lima of Kalaheo helped Hawai‘i win the overall team title at the International Surfing Association World Junior Surfing Championship in El Salvador on Sunday.
Rylan, Malia and their teammates, who returned to Hawai‘i this week, faced stiff competition: The 2022 world championship included a record 419 athletes belonging to 45 national teams.
“We showed up four or five days before the contest to practice at the breaks,” Rylan said in a recent interview.
“The lineups were so competitive … It was really challenging to even catch the waves to practice.”
Both Rylan and Malia started surfing as children and began their competitive careers as pre-teens.
Malia won the first contest she entered, Live Like Sion, at age 9.
But the talented 16 year olds were reminded they still have room to grow at the nine-day contest in El Salvador.
“I think I learned more from this contest than any other contest I have done,” Malia told The Garden Island on Wednesday, near the county Department of Finance offices in Lihu‘e. (The world champion had just earned her driver’s license.)
Rylan and Malia agreed the El Salvador breaks, La Bocana and El Sunzal, were rewarding yet grueling.
“The water, the sun, the air and everything is really hot,” Rylan said. “It’s a huge change, but the waves are perfect.”
While earning a team title, the two Kauaians did not score individual medals.
Hawai‘i surfers who did included Luke Swanson (gold, boys under 18), Ewelei‘ula Wong (gold, girls under 18), Shion Crawford (silver, boys under 18) and Luke Tema (bronze, boys under 16) of O‘ahu.
Rylan and Malia have no time to rest on their laurels or to think of what might have been. They’re already preparing for their next surf competitions in California and on O‘ahu.
Both hope to one day reach the World Surf League’s Championship Tour, the pinnacle of competitive surfing.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Rylan said. “But as of now, I just want to step up my surfing and grow and get better each day.”
Neither would give their boards up for anything.
“It brings me joy, love. It connects me with people,” Malia said. “It’s an escape from reality. It can be frustrating on some days, but I still would take that over anything.”
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
