How to meet your hero
At a certain point, it stops being a silly thought exercise. I found myself having a conversation with the world's #1 surfer of 2024 just last week.
What would you say if you met your hero? It’s not a silly thought exercise at a certain point in life. After you’ve committed to doing the things you love to do, you get closer to coming across your hero and other remarkable people doing those things too. Then one day, it happens.
Last week I met the world’s best surfer of 2024 on the women’s side, Caitlin Simmers. It was just two days after she won her first world title. It was just her second year competing on the championship tour. At 18 years old, she was the youngest woman surfer to win a world title.
I was starstruck.
I flew to Southern California with my wife to try to see the final championship event in person but we were one day late. So we spent our first night in Oceanside, Simmers’ hometown, watching the recording of the live stream on the Roku TV in our AirBnb. We cheered with astonishment as Simmers won her heats in her signature style—progressive, unapologetic, skateboarding-inspired, radical.
Earlier that day I felt overwhelmed to be in a surf Mecca. It was a dream come true but it also made me feel incredibly small. A tiny tadpole in an endless sea of other surf addicts. I was nervous to go into the surf shop down the street from where we stayed. When my wife asked me if we should check it out that first day in town I said “nah, we can do it later” as casually as I could.
She asked again as we walked by the next day and I felt a flush of nervousness in my chest as I agreed. I practiced in my head what questions I would ask the shop owner and I braced myself with confidence. I told myself “there’s no reason to be nervous”. As we entered the shop my nerves were replaced with excitement. My eyes were wide. I love all things surfing.
A few clothing racks across the store I saw a face I recognized instantly. The confidence and resolve I gained from preparing to talk to the shop owner vanished. I had prepared for the wrong conversation. I pulled my wife to the side and whispered “I just saw Caity.” “What? Really?” “Be cool, be cool.” I grinned, almost giggled with nervous energy, then finally I distractedly picked up a pair of sunglasses and walked to the checkout counter. My wife and I and Caity and her mom had a happy little conversation the way you might with any friendly stranger at a grocery store.
“Holy shit,” I thought. ”I just ran into and met and talked to Caity Simmers!”
I’ve never had a tendency to idolize people. It never made sense to me to put someone on a pedestal. Caitlin Simmers is no exception. I don’t follow her on Instagram but I’m a fan of her surfing and what little I can glean about her personality from seeing her in post-heat interviews. The magic of meeting her wasn’t really about her at all. It was about my feeling of serendipity, my awe at finding myself so close to amazing surfing. The best surfing in fact.
My wife wasn’t surprised that we met her at all. “I mean, this is her home town.” After the initial shock, I felt similarly but for a different reason—something like this happening is exactly in line with how I see my life in this moment as I take the courage to be myself fully and without apology. It was validating. As I’ve taken this journey with surfing that already feels so natural, familiar, and joyous, I have more confidence than ever in my pursuit of riding waves.
If you are on a journey that feels similar be prepared to meet your hero.
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