Recently crowned Queen of the Point at Manu Bay, the Local Rag caught up with surfer Brie Bennett to hear about her season.
Tell us a little about your surfing journey.
I started surfing with what’s known as the “sea dogs” at Raglan Area School with my friend Oceanah when I was 10 years old, from there we both were so in love with the sport and would beg our parents to take us out surfing everyday after school.
I did my first competition when I was 13 and made the final so the following year decided to travel around the North Island on the NZ surfing circuit. From there I continued to progress and started to get really good results, and my competitive surfing was then taken to a few places overseas.
Congrats on your recent win in Raglan. How did it feel to take out the title?
I was so happy to win the King and Queen of the point. It was my first big win in a few years, and first win in the open women’s division. It was even more special that it was at home.
How has the last year of comps gone for you ?
The last flurry of comps I didn’t do to well. Surfing for me was full time when I was in school, I would surf usually twice a day everyday.
Now that I’m in my second year of studying Nursing at the UoW I had to definitely step back a little from surfing unfortunately. As I was struggling to balance full time study and full time surfing. However I’m still really keen to get out for a surf or do surf specific training when I can.
What do you hope to achieve in the next couple of years?
For now my main focus has become getting my degree, after that I would like to give international competitions another crack.
What other things do you love doing?
My new passion is now Nursing. I love contributing to helping people and making their day or their condition better. I also love all sports I love to be active, in summer I love all water sports such as swimming, wakeboarding, and in winter I love to snowboard.
If surfing wasn’t your thing to pursue what would of been?
Before I started surfing I was really into my netball and it was my dream to be a silver fern. However when I started surfing consistently i realised I had to make a decision what sport I would rather focus on to get really good at, it was either surfing on saturdays or being in hamilton playing netball.
How do you think growing up in Raglan has influenced you?
Growing up in Raglan has definitely influenced me to surf, there are so many amazing surfing role models. Surfing being a part of the curriculum at Raglan Area School was definitely what gave me the confidence and got me into surfing. There’s not many schools that will take you out after lunch to go surfing, so I am super thankful for the opportunities Raglan Area School gave me.
Who would you like to give thanks to for their support?
Firstly I would like to thank my sponsors Raglan Surf Emporium, Ripcurl and my parents, they supported me from day dot, and a lot of the opportunities I have been given probably wouldn’t have been possible without them. I would also like to thank DK, Bugsy, Larry, and Dean, who have helped me along the way in my surfing journey.
This content was made possible thanks to sponsorship from Raglan Surf Co.
