Smoother Than Smooth, Rebecca Woods

There are a handful of surfers who if I could, I wouldn't mind surfing just like them. Australia's Rebecca Woods is one of those surfers. Bec has the smoothest of smooth styles and competitively-speaking this may be to her detriment sometimes. Similar to Parko on the men's side, Rebecca's surfing is so effortless that I'm sure the judges sometimes don't see how truly on edge her turns are. I've only had the honor of shooting with her a few times but Bec is definitely one of my favorites. I hope when she cruises through town next summer we'll be able to connect sooner than the 15 minute session she sneaks in before her plane takes off.

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Her Hero and Mine, Jessi Miley-Dyer

(I apologize to anyone who has already read this somewhere before. It's an old Facebook post but the image still makes me happy whenever I happen upon it.)

My absolute favorite moment from 2007's US Open is little more than a point-and-shoot snapshot. To me though, it speaks volumes. Jessi Miley-Dyer spends a few moments on the beach with a little grom surfer girl and gets a fan for life. Jessi might not have known it but as soon as she walked away, the elated little girl ran and jumped into her dad's arms and I could see her excitedly jabbering away about her new hero. It really warmed my heart and reminded me that the best things about surfing don't always happen in the water. Cheers to you Jess :)

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