Words by Hannah Mumby
Surfing isn’t a sport that offers many shortcuts. It takes years of persistence, missed waves and wipeouts before things start to feel easy, and even then, they rarely do. For Izaro Williamson Sasia, that passion and perseverance has helped propel her to two national longboard titles and a place among Australia and Oceania’s top-ranked surfers.
Izaro’s love affair with surfing started 10 years ago when dad, Craig, and mum, Amaia started pushing her into waves as a five-year-old. Friday nights at New Plymouth Surfriders Club fuelled that passion further, offering her a community that kept her coming back for more.
“I really enjoyed those nights because of everyone else who was getting involved as well. It was a lot of fun.”
But the real turning point came a few years later.
After spending years riding a shortboard, Izaro was becoming frustrated by how difficult it was to consistently catch waves on her own. One day, after more than an hour in the water with little success, Craig suggested she try his longboard.
“The difference was immediate,” he says. “Within half an hour she had caught a dozen waves,” he recalls. “Something just clicked.”
There was no turning back after that. “She became addicted to it.”
Before long, Izaro was setting alarms for dawn surfs before school, willingly paddling out through Taranaki winters while most teenagers were still asleep.
That passion has carried her a long way.
Earlier this year, the 15-year-old made New Zealand longboarding history by winning both the Female Under 18 and Open Women’s national titles — becoming the youngest surfer ever, and the first female, to win titles across two categories at the same national championship event. She also finished second in the Junior Girls and 5th in the Open at the recent Egmont Honey Longboard Pro World Surf League event.
The national titles came as a surprise to the humble Sacred Heart College teenager.
“I was hopeful for a good result in the under 18s, but didn’t think I’d win it. Then for the Open, I just wanted to maybe try and get to the final. It was a really good day.”
Today, Izaro sits seventh on the World Surf League Australia/Oceania Open Women’s Longboard rankings and has earned selection for the New Zealand team heading to the International Surfing Association World Longboard Championships in El Salvador later this month.
Her winter was spent surfing coastal Taranaki’s waves, in the swimming pool, and the gym, as she prepared to face the long right-hand wave at El Sunzal Beach.
“I want to be really fit for it because I think it takes like seven minutes to paddle out the back and the heats are only 20-minutes long.”
Izaro’s journey hasn’t been without its challenges. Over the years she’s suffered a broken nose and a serious concussion after being struck by her longboard, much to her mum and dad’s horror.
“You do start to get a bit worried, but we came across the SurfShell out of Raglan which is a hat that has a helmet built in. So Izaro wears that now which gives her a bit more confidence and provides peace of mind for us, too,” says Craig.
When she’s not chasing waves, there’s a good chance you’ll find Izaro on a golf course. She has represented Taranaki through the Junior Development programme and is now helping promote long drive golf as a junior ambassador for the New Zealand Long Blacks. With her personal best drive sitting at 230m, it’s enough to make most golfers green. For now though, the waves continue to take priority.
This is partly made possible by a recently formed partnership with Swiss-Belhotel International, which has a large presence in Indonesia and strong links back to Taranaki through its Chairman and President, Gavin Faull.
“As a proud Taranaki native, I love seeing local talent like Izaro represent New Zealand. At Swiss-Belhotel, we are thrilled to back this next generation as they take our region’s spirit to the world stage,” says Gavin.
It’s not only the competition that Izaro thrives on. In a sport where female participation often drops away during the teenage years, she’s showing what’s possible when passion, perseverance and opportunity come together.
“I’ve had heaps of younger girls come up to me and say how cool it is and that they want to start surfing too.”
She’s also taken on the role of SurfAid ambassador for the third year in a row, surfing every day in September as part of the organisation’s Make A Wave fundraising campaign.
For someone so young, she’s already laying the foundations to build a pretty special legacy.