What were you doing at 16? Better yet, what types of waves were you surfing? If you’re anything like us, chances are you weren’t paddling out at bombing Teahupo’o, dropping anchor at the place’s infamous west bowl, and getting slotted off your nutter.
For Tahiti’s Eimeo Czermak, though, growing up within striking distance of one of the world’s heaviest waves means ample time to train and stand out when it turns on. It would seem 2019 was a hell of a year for Czermak. We’d say pop the champagne, but the kid’s still two years shy of the legal drinking age in French Polynesia.