Sirena.

 
















Sirena means mermaid in Spanish.  
Women in the water often have many different connotations, to sailors gone by we were bad luck, or mythical creatures who lured ships to their peril. Later we were deemed too frail and indecent to be allowed to swim or when we did impressions were that of disdain or disbelief. 

Talk to any modern female surfer and the feeling is of evolution and positive change, girls are coming through the ranks ripping harder, faster and doing more dynamic manoeuvres.  

Women are defining themselves not as better or worse but different. 

And yet there is still a blurred line in existence between female surfers and modelling. It appears a chicken and egg phenomenon when examining the competitive surf industry - what came first the surfing or the modelling? Without the big sponsors surfers full stop would find it difficult to afford to get to contests and have the relevant equipment, which is ironic when you think the ocean is free. 


In the aftermath of the 2012 Olympics in London many of the female athletes, despite winning medals are struggling to find sponsors. Helen Glover, who won Britain's first gold medal of the London Games with Heather Stanning in the women's rowing pairs, despite her high profile - Glover went on to win BBC TV's Superstars - the 26-year-old has failed to attract a personal sponsor, as have all her medal-winning colleagues. 

In the plight of Brit Andy Murray winning Wimbledon British newspapers called his success 'First win since 1936' completely forgetting Virginia Wade who won the Women's Singles Championships at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977 and was the last British tennis player to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament until Andy Murray won the US Open in 2012. 

When I read this it makes me incredulous. Especially in the context of surfing where my impression is that if you wear clothes well you have more opportunities available to you. 

In the upcoming weeks sports brand activinstinct are writing a post for me about their perspectives on the recent Roxy Pro video. Without giving too much away its caused major controversy for appearing more like a soft porn film than for representing female surfers actually, well, surfing. 

In my meanderings I've recently come across these two videos which I feel show the energy of female surfers. The first is 'Water Warriors' by the bikini brand Calvera. Yes the girls are attractive in this video but that is not the point, they are fierce and it concentrates solely on their abilities- Ride on sisters! 

The second video is from the blog The Sea Life and the video is called 'Jack and his girl.' Although the video isn't exclusively about Roya the female surfer featured, she steals the show for just surfing pretty dam well. I like how the video perfectly illustrates the linearities and differences between male and female surfers and how perfect they are in their differences. A stunningly, well made video!