SURF COUNTY, USA : THE LONG RIDERS : Some change from business suits into wet suits. Others practically live in the water. All find exceptional challenges and rewards in their search for the perfect wave.
ELENEA M. POST
PROFESSIONAL SURFER, 18
When her two older brothers gave up surfing with her because the water got too cold in the winter, Nea Post continued going to the beach on her own, dutifully riding her bike the few blocks to Huntington Beach so she could ride the waves.
“I started surfing when I was 13 by just tagging along with my brothers,” Post said. “Then I decided that this is what I really wanted to do.”
She quickly progressed. Post became a standout surfer on the Huntington Beach High School team and the top-seeded female surfer in the National Scholastic Surfing Assn., which has 4,000 members and sponsors contests for students attending grade school through college.
Within five years, Post had won four national high school championships, several state championships and two open division contests for women held by the scholastic group. She placed fifth in the world amateur championships in Japan in May, 1990.
Now Post has decided to turn pro.
“I put a lot of time in as a kid,” Post said. “I stayed at the beach all day. I still try to surf for at least three hours a day, no matter what the conditions.”
Post attends Golden West College and has started the Assn. of Surfing Professionals tour, the most competitive professional circuit. She is sponsored by Ocean Pacific Sunwear Ltd., Altra Surfboards of Newport Beach, Huntington Surf & Sport, and Victory wet suits.
She has made surf trips to Australia, Hawaii, Bali, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Japan and Canada for a wave pool demonstration.
“I guess my reasons for doing it are pretty standard,” Post said. “It’s just so much fun. I don’t get tired of it.”
And her brothers are very supportive, she said, adding, “You can never get too much support.”
