Called “the best female surfer on the planet,” Kennelly, 43, has long been known for her fearless approach to the waves that other women wouldn’t catch. Her wipeout award was given on a ride at the Jaws Big Wave Championships on Maui when her gust turned the board over as she tried to stop by. “After the board hit my shin, it bounced off and hit the ribs, then bounced up again and hit my chin, then cartwheeled a 50-foot wave,” she recalls. The string that attaches her board to the surfer’s ankle pulled her leg out of the socket on the way down and began to tear her hip lips.
During the following year, her laces were torn a little more each time the laces wiped Kennelly’s legs. But before she had her surgery, she wanted to win the Red Bull Magnitude, an all-women’s big wave contest, in March 2021. So she made her own chest harness and attached her laces to distribute the force over her torso rather than her legs. It worked. She brought back the title, got an MRI and scheduled surgery.
Eight months after being unable to surf, Kennelly not only returned to the water, but also toured the World Surf League Challenger Series starting May 7 on the Gold Coast of Australia.
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She is the first to return to the tour since 2006, when she quit mainly because of the homosexual aversion she experienced after she came out. “Most of my professional surfing career on her tour was in the closet and I was afraid to go out, living this double life,” she says. In a sport famous for female athletes’ oversexuality, the negative reaction to her true sexuality is very intense (including being dropped by most sponsors) and she is not worth the emotional sacrifice. I decided.
Sixteen years later, things became more acceptable (thankfully). Now she’s back in a community that has changed the way women are treated. This is due to her own activities. Kennelly, along with a few other female big wave surfers, has long fought for equal pay for women and a change in the permit system that previously excluded women from surfing on certain beaches. I did. (Charlize Theron’s production company is currently developing a Netflix feature film about their story.)
“I did all this work for equality, but never really benefited. [it]”She says. “So it would be cool to look at the temperature of the place where the tour is taking place and see those positive changes,” she added. .. “
How is she ready to compete at its best?
After years of underwater, Kennelly has a keen understanding of why her body and mind are ready to compete.
1. She enthusiastically performs hip stabilization exercises
After surgery, Kennelly is currently training his hips with a trainer twice a week. They are particularly focused on stabilizing exercises, squatting with props such as discs, boss balls, squeeze foam pads and “fire all the various little stabilizing muscles”.
Learn how to do squats in the right way and take them to an unstable surface like Kennelly.
2. She uses music to enter the zone
A DJ on the side (she has several settlements living in Honolulu), Kennelly uses music to put her head in the right place before the competition. “I just get quiet, stay away from people, listen to music, watch the waves and see where the waves are breaking,” she says. She has a “million playlists”, but house music is her recourse.
3. She throws away the tampons for a more water-friendly alternative
Menstruating on a competition day is never ideal, but it’s not as troublesome as it used to be. “”[When you’re] Wearing a tampon can be very uncomfortable, as it gets soaked every time it gets into the water, “says Kennelly. Currently, she is sponsored by Flex and she sells discs and cups that are not filled with water while surfing. They are so comfortable that they never notice when they enter.
4. She opens her body with a targeted stretch
Before jumping on her board, Kennelly focuses on stretching. “My piriformis muscles are really tight,” she says, talking about the buttock muscles behind her hips. She also targets her hip flexors (in front of her hips) and loosens her shoulders for her paddling.
This targeted yoga stream opens the piriformis, hip flexors, and other muscles.
5. She has her goals in mind.
Despite her crammed resume of bad wins and awards, it’s very clear that Kennelly continues to check her expectations for the tour as a 43-year-old competing with her twenties. I am doing it. “There is always a fear of her failure and making a fool of herself,” she admits. “That is, these young women are very hungry. All new generations will replace the previous generation. Surfing is getting better and better. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m not going to call. “M I’m just trying to focus on having a cool experience, having a good show, and having fun. “
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