Nancy Meherne is determined to keep surfing as long as she is able to ‘hop up’ to catch some waves.
Original text written by Frances Pearson – The Guardian
Nancy Meherne lives a simple life by the sea, gardening and surfing the fun little waves off Scarborough Beach, just a few blocks from her home.
The 92-year-old surfer still rides the waves on a surfboard made in the 1970s in New Zealand by a factory that made rubber boots and other foam products.
Unlike the owner, her board doesn’t handle the wear and tear of time well (the blue and red colors are long gone) – however, it’s easy to carry and goes well with the nonagenarian.
Often wearing only a swimsuit, despite the water temperature ranging from 14ºC to 18ºC, the grandmother of seven walks with her board under her arms and when she gets to where the water reaches her waist, she waits for the perfect wave and jumps to catch up. -there.
“The others (surfers) respect me,” says Meherne, who suspects drawing attention at sea “because I’m old.”
“They keep waiting for me to come out of the sea and say: “You surfed well today!”. I like to watch the bigger waves come in and the break between them. You can catch one wave after another. You wait until you see a good wave and then you ride it. I love just paddling in them. You are moving so fast, it feels so good.”
Born in 1929, in the city of Wellington at the beginning of the Great Depression, Meherne says her life has been full, without even a moment of monotony.
In her early twenties, after working as a teacher, she left New Zealand on a ship to study and work in England and Europe, where she spent weekends and vacations exploring the region, hitchhiking, sleeping on train platforms and staying in hostels.
She remembers when she had to sleep in a cemetery, in a small French village, with a friend, because there was no other place. “We didn’t know if we were going to be frowned upon for doing that.”
Her travels also took her to India, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan where she taught for three months.
Upon returning to New Zealand, Meherne raised three children with her husband Doug, while teaching elementary schools as well as private music lessons.
His philosophy for teaching was similar to the one that guided his life. “You have to have fun.”
Meherne spent his early years in the countryside, near a North Island national park, before moving to the west coast in Whanganui.
She remembers the moment she saw the ocean for the first time and how shocked she was by its size.
“I imagined that the water came in small amounts”.
A proficient swimmer and lifeguard in her youth, Meherne says she didn’t start surfing until she was in her early 40s, when she lived in Sumner and finally started borrowing her son’s board.
“I never tried to stand up, but I loved it anyway. I went every time I could”
Simon “Honeybee” Brown, 63, is a founding member of the “Summer Longboarders” club, and believes Meherne is indeed a surfer, even though she doesn’t surf standing up, “she doesn’t go for a swim, but to catch waves.”
Brown has watched Meherne surf for forty years and he believes she is an inspiration to a lot of people.
“She keeps the same board, which is really cool. She used it so much that all the color on the board disappeared.”
A convinced vegetarian, Meherne credits good health based on a sugar-free diet, which was imposed by his parents, necessary due to his father’s health problems, developed after being wounded in combat in the first world war.
She no longer drives, but rides her bike around town and stays active by taking exercise classes and dancing to classics played on her FM radio station.
Meherbe will turn 93 in August and says he will continue surfing, as long as he can ‘jump in’ to catch some waves.
Brown says he doesn’t know yet how many years he will continue surfing.
“She really raised the bar too much. She’s aged, but she hasn’t gotten old – you know what I mean?”
Source: The Guardian; Nordic Surfers Mag
Film by Anna Frances Pearson in collaboration with @avproductionsnz and @jonathansmitnz
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