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Hey, we’re all busy, right? Life moves fast, for sure, but next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by your day-to-day routine, put yourself in Alana Blanchard’s shoes.

Imagine competing on the ASP World Tour, shooting for the Sports Illustrated‘s Swimsuit Issue, dating a pro surfer, designing a bikini line and building a new home, all while running an Instagram following of close to a half-a-million heads. ‘Tis the life of the 23-year-old Kauai bombshell.

But Alana is taking it all in stride…and ripping harder than ever in the process. Her past has been dotted with an on-again-off-again relationship with the ASP Top 16 (on tour in 2009, off in 2010, on in 2011, off in 2012, on in 2013). But she opened this year’s campaign with back-to-back quarterfinals, right about the same time her relationship with ASP World Junior Champion Jack Freestone bubbled into the limelight, which also closely coincided with her appearance in the S.I. Swimsuit Issue.

Springtime romance. Competitive success. Mainstream recognition. Blanchard’s year is humming along quite nicely; what follows is a quick, mid-season update, recorded last week somewhere between Bells and New Zealand.

HOW’S IT FEEL TO BE BACK ON TOUR AFTER A YEAR AWAY?

It feels good. I made the semis in the last ‘QS event in the Azores and afterwards they told me, ‘you made the ‘CT.’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t even know I could.’ So it was a bit of a surprise. But I’m super stoked to be back with all the girls. I’m taking this year a little more casual and trying not to stress out about all my heats.

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read more @ Huffington Post

Forget Point Break’s party animals, modern surfing is more about professionalism.
That’s the mantra of reigning women’s world champion Stephanie Forget Point Break’s party animals, modern surfing is more about professionalism.

That’s the mantra of reigning women’s world champion Stephanie Gilmore, who raises an eyebrow at the mention of the famous film that became a seismic signpost for surfing in the early 1990s.

The 25-year-old Australian says the seaside sphere she inhabits is a world away from the society showcased by Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, stuffed with wavy-haired folk who all referred to each other as “dudes.”

“The biggest misconception about surfers is they all talk the surf lingo,” she told CNN’s Human to Hero series. Gilmore, who raises an eyebrow at the mention of the famous film that became a seismic signpost for surfing in the early 1990s.

read more @ cnn