Alison Smith interviewed Neridah Falconer of Australia for a profile titled "A Time to Shine," which ran in the October 2000 issue of Surfing Girl. Falconer was 29.


As a kid, whatever I tried, I was good at. Some people are academically inclined, I’m good at sports. I grew up next to the ocean [at Scott's Head, New South Wales], so it's funny how long it took me that long to get into surfing.


The first professional surf contest event I entered was at Newcastle, and I came second to Frieda Zamba. Then I went to Bells and got third there. I was 18. Nobody knew who I was. I beat a lot of the girls and went through to the semifinals, which was a surprise to myself and everyone.


I went to Europe my rookie season and had a hard time because I didn’t know anyone. The tour isn’t really about making friends, that’s for sure. That was in the days of Jodi Cooper, Wendy Botha, Lisa Andersen, Pam Burridge. I had a really hard time with some of the girls, so I kept to myself. It's still the same. In France last year I beat Layne [Beachley] twice. She and all the rest of the girls were staying in the same hotel and wouldn't talk to me. So again, you find out you haven't lot of friends on tour. No one really gives a shit about the next person: which is the hard thing. I spend time with friends in different countries, some of whom don’t surf. I speak Portuguese—I had a boyfriend from Brazil—so I talk a lot with Brazilian surfers on tour.


Pro surfing wasn’t really a career option when I started. I’ve struggled to make anything from surfing. It's only in the last three or four years that I’ve had sponsors, and before that, during my peak, I was doing really well and not getting any support. It wears you down. I'd send my resume off three or four times a year and get the same answer. Not interested. But that's okay. I’m pretty low profile, and I’m from the country, which I think is a better place to come from even if you don't get the coverage of living somewhere else like Sydney. But publicity isn’t what you do it for. Surfing professionally is something I really enjoy and it’s lucky I've been able to do it for so long.


I don't show much. I'll be really stoked inside, and not show it. And when I lose, I don’t show it there either. When I beat Layne last year, she came in and told me she got ripped off. I just think, "win some, lose some," and you've got to be a good sport about it either way. It's all about rhythm, and staying positive. I’m happy with how things are going.


I’ve been competing forever, and I'm getting closer to the end of my career. I’m 29. I’m not going to be on tour when I'm 35. It's been satisfying. Because I'm an underdog, and because I don't get much publicity, when I do well at an event I know it's come from me only. I've never kissed anyone's arse to get what I have. There are always the battlers out there, and I'm one of 'em.

[Photos: Andrew Christie, Martin Tullemans]

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