Features

There’s Something About: Ainara Aymat

Things you maybe didn't know about the Basque Country 'QS hopeful

How she rolls

I have a Tesla model S. Actually, it’s my dad’s car, but I take it whenever I can, ha! It’s a big initial investment, but it’s worth it — cause driving without polluting a drop is the best thing ever, and you save all the money you would have to spend on fuel. I’ve also gotten a bit obsessed with driving it pretty fast, hehe! (Don’t worry Mom, always carefully.)

It’s comp-licated

To be honest I’ve never really trained for contests, not in terms of tactics. When I go into the water I just place myself wherever I feel most comfortable and wait for the wave to come, without any pressure. Which is completely the opposite of what you have to do in your heat, unless you want to lose! I guess that’s why my brain’s not ready for that sort pressure in such a short window of time.

At one point having such pressure on me in every contest was slowly killing me, and I almost forgot what surfing should feel like. But now I’ve learned to appreciate everything that the contests entail, and I can say I’m enjoying them more than I’ve ever done. The nerves are something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to avoid, but I don’t get as breathless as I used to. I still get chicken skin before a heat.

She has a dog called Sexy

A friend of mine and I were trying to find a cute name for her. We were just throwing names around — Godzilla was one of the other options — when suddenly one of us said Sexy. At first we laughed, but then we realised it was the perfect name.

Surf photos: Txagattara (top); Zixabi (below); Antonio Toca (bottom).

Ainara means ‘swallow’ in Basque

As in the bird. My name is related with nature, so it fits with my lifestyle in that sense. On the other hand, it is said that the swallow is a blessed bird, but I haven’t seen much luck in my life so far hehe…

Flying? I like airs, but I’ve never tried them much. The one I work on most is that one that Jeremy Flores does.

She got her head shaved

I’d wondered so many times what it would feel like to surf without any weight on my head, but I never really thought about the idea of shaving my head, maybe because my hair felt like something that defined me. Then last year I went through so many changes in my life, and I just wanted to get rid of my hair. I went and did it without thinking twice — I went into a hairdresser that had a collaboration with a charity for children with cancer, and I had it shaved it off.

I liked it when it was really really short, like 2mm. But now it’s kinda weird I guess, cause I don’t even know how I’m supposed to comb my hair without looking like a boy, haha! I sometimes miss my long hair, but then I remember how comfy this is and I just forget it. I don’t know exactly who is wearing my old hair now, but I know that children with cancer meet with this charity and they help them build their own wigs, so I hope that whoever has it is enjoying it!

She gets up at 5.30am every day to study

University pisses me off. (Sorry Mom, I know you don’t like to hear that, ha!) I’ve been waking up for 3 years now at 5:30 a.m to take an hour-and-a-half bus to Bilbao, so my day’s too short to do everything I want to do.

I study Sports Science — I can’t wait to finish this course and start studying Biomechanics, and do distance learning. Our body has a lot of functions that I don’t even know and I think it could be fun to know how to get the best of it.