GIRL ACTION: Talking to Maya Gabeira

We caught up with big wave charger and South American stunner Maya Gabeira not long after after she took home her latest trophy, the ESPY for "Female Action Sports Athlete of the Year." Expecting to catch her in a haze of post-celebratory bliss, like a good pro surfer might, at the crossroads of a major crossover into mainstream sports spotlight, we found her instead analyzing swell models, like a good pro surfer does, preparing to conquer her next big wave challenge.--Jen Holcomb

FTV: So you are in LA now?
Yeah, yeah...I'm in LA now for a couple of days already.

FTV: How long are you staying?
I leave I think tomorrow.

FTV: You think?
I'm actually pretty sure it's tomorrow; I just don't know where I fly to. I was supposed to go home to Brazil, but maybe I’ll go to Tahiti for a swell. I'm trying to decide.

FTV: What will make the decision for you?
Only God knows - whether there will be swell, whether the wind will move, photographers, everything has a little bit in it. It's a hard decision; there are too many things to put on the scale, you know? I've been deciding to go or not to go a hundred times in the last four days.



FTV: Is there something big that you need to get home for?
No, no. But I also don't want to fly to Tahiti for nothing, with the time and the money. If I go, I want to go for a big, big wave. So I am trying to watch the forecast and organize people because Carlos [Burle] is not going, so I don't have a tow partner.

FTV: So there's a lot to organize!
Surfers, Jet Ski, wind, swell direction, swell period, everything.

FTV: Do you have a team helping you out?
It's me, Carlos, some of my photographers, people I travel with, but mostly it's just me. Most of it's just Carlos and me because we are surfers. Photographers just follow; if we say, "We're going," then they go too.



FTV: So has LA been good to you?
Yeah, yeah...I went to the ESPYs last night.

FTV: And you won!
Yeah, yeah I won the female action sports athlete.

FTV: We want all the details!
It was really interesting. Really different. It was kind of a big deal, yeah? It was pretty cool to see all the big names and a bunch of celebrities. Samuel Jackson, the Los Angeles Lakers guys...it was really cool.

FTV: Who’d you meet?
I was stoked to see Michael Phelps, Venus and Serena Williams, and Kobe Bryant. That made my night!

FTV: Did you get to talk to them?
No, no, I just saw them. I was taking pictures while they were walking the red carpet.

FTV: You were taking pictures of them on the red carpet?
Yeah, I was also on the red carpet, but I was just the action sports girl, so they were like the big deal. I was just walking with my little camera. I needed to post to my blog , so I just took a lot of pictures.

FTV: Did you do anything special for the event?
Well, I did makeup and hair and clothing so I didn't look that out of place, but nothing special.
I really didn't think I was going to win. I never would have that I could win. You know, it's something in America with popular voting. I actually voted on myself thinking, "Poor me, at least if I vote for myself I'll get one vote guaranteed." I made my mom, dad, and sister vote so that it didn't look that bad. So if ESPN saw five votes, they'd think "at least five people believe in her!"
I was really surprised! They were getting ready to interview me and I had the trophy in my hand, and I looked down at the trophy and it had my name on it, and I still didn't know I had won.



FTV: Even with the trophy in your hand?
I didn't know, I didn't know. I thought maybe they'd just...I don't know! Nobody until that moment had stopped to tell me, "Look, you've won the award." It was just happening. I asked the guy who was with me, "Why am I going backstage?" And he was like, "No, no, just a very quick interview." He didn't want to tell me! So I didn't know.

FTV: You weren't called up on stage?
No, they have 37 awards and only seven are presented on stage. All the rest are backstage.

FTV: So they just handed you an award and interviewed you?
She just said, "The interview will be right here." And then she gave me my award. And I was like, "Wait a second, why is my name on it?"She thought I was making fun of her. She was like, "What do you mean? You won the award!" You've got to be kidding me! Are you really going to put me in front of a camera, start up an interview, hand me a trophy, and no one even told me I had won something! I had no idea.

FTV: We can't wait to see that interview!
They'll probably cut it. It was crazy; she probably thought I was making a joke or something; and I thought she was joking. She had to tell me 10 times in row that I had won. She literally had to tell me 10 times and bring the staff from ESPN over to tell me.
For me, it was like "What's happening?" I'm backstage, doing an interview. I have a trophy. My name is on it. Nothing makes sense!

FTV: How did you celebrate?
I haven't yet. I haven't even slept well because I'm trying to figure out my Tahiti trip. I've been freaking about the swell. I'll probably go out to dinner in Brazil with my family and crew. I was really stoked and honored to be with such amazing athletes. Especially with popular votes; I was like, "Wow, who voted?" It's amazing.

FTV: You are getting all kinds of exposure lately; you're a three-time XXL award and you're popping up in magazines all the time. Is the exposure impacting your sport at all? Is anything changing?
There are lots of thing changing in my life all the time. I've been working like crazy! Every interview that comes out, I've worked on it. I do two or three interviews every day of my life, it seems. It's definitely good! I just have to keep both feet on the ground and divide my time between media and my surfing and my performance and my traveling. My ultimate goal, still, is to perform. So I have to have my head with not much to think of. On top of that, I have my sponsors and events, and my sport isn't really organized. There is no association. There are no contests. No nothing. It's all on my mind.

FTV: How about contests...last time we spoke, there weren't any big-wave contest opportunities for women. How's that situation?
I'm going to the men's contests now. I got invited to the tow-in contest in Brazil. Next year I will probably paddle some big-wave contests in South America...Peru, and try to Chile too. Hopefully I can get in the men's tour too. It's just taking a while because they are invitational. I have to prove myself over and over again, so that they invite me and so that it's not a problem with other surfers because it takes one spot to give me a spot.



FTV: But you are a surfer just like they are...
Yeah, but I'm still a woman and don't perform like them. So they can still look at a list and say, "How come you aren't going to put him, or him, or him, or him and put her?" It's complicated. But it's nice to slowly get into the contests.

FTV: When is the contest in Brazil?
We are in the window already. It's from July to October.

FTV: Any hope of it going off any time soon?
No, I haven't seen anything. Nothing in the next 10 days that I can see!

FTV: Who are the other women surfers that are pushing you?
I think that Keala always charges, in Teahupoo especially, and Pipeline. There's always been Jamilah doing well at Mavericks and Waimea. Layne Beachley got a really nice barrel in Australia and that was really motivating too. But I think mostly that the men are the motivation for me.

FTV: Who is the most motivating for you?
Probably Carlos [Carlos Burle is Maya's tow-in partner and mentor].

FTV: What advice would you give to aspiring female big-wave surfers, the women who are trying to get in and do what you do?
I think to build a good relationship with some of the guys that do the big-wave surfing deal. Be able to go along with them and get some protection. I think big-wave surfing, even if you are paddling in, is not an individual sport. You obviously are going to be way safer, pushing it way harder and having more fun if you have a friend in the water. I think that it's important to have people to push you and that know what they are doing and that can be around you in the water when it's huge so that you can get your confidence and your skills.

FTV: What do you look forward to most in big-wave surfing?
That's a hard one! I think just seeing how much I've improved, and seeing how long of a path I have in front on me. I always feel like I'm starting at zero; I have so much to work on.

FTV: Big waves are more of a winter phenomenon, so right now you are based in Brazil, rather than Hawaii, correct?
Yes. It's simpler, in some ways, in Brazil. I'm in the Southern Hemisphere so I'm closer to South Africa, I'm obviously in South America, and it's closer to the South Pacific, Tahiti. So for my traveling season in the Southern Hemisphere, it's really good. And on top of that I'm nearby my family. I have my sponsors who are in Brazil - Red Bull Brazil and Billabong Brazil. I have all my friends and all the people who support me. I'm sure Brazil was supporting me last night for that award! Carlos lives in Brazil, right near my house and we train every time a swell comes in. We are good in tow-ins because we are constantly training together.

FTV: I remember from the last time we spoke that being away from your family and your support system while living in Hawaii was hard, so I'm glad to hear that you are able to be around them again...at least for part of the year!
It's really great. I'm really getting it together now after so many years of hard work. Things aren't getting easier, but definitely nicer!

FTV: What is your favorite wave to surf?
Actually, all the outer reefs of Oahu. But for the last five years, I can honestly say that Waimea has been my magic spot. It's where I started and I have some goals I've set for myself out there that I haven't achieved. It's a special place for me. Hopefully we'll see some swell there that we didn't see last year or the year before. I surfed Waimea when I was 18 and it was 25-foot sets. I haven't seen it that big since then. I was really young and had only been surfing big waves for about a year. I caught about four waves, which I was really proud of, and probably made one of the biggest impacts on my life that day. It's been four years now and I'm definitely sure that I can do a lot better. I want to see a day like that again and catch the waves that I dream of.

FTV: Everyone is talking about El Nino!
Yeah, it's going to be a crazy winter.

FTV: Where will you be?
I'll be in Hawaii or Northern California, for sure. Just look for the big red thing [on the swell map] and that's where I'll be.

FTV: Which is scarier, big waves or big sharks?
Big sharks.

FTV: Big sharks or man-groupies?
Wow, that's a hard one! Maybe I would go for the sharks. I've seen a lot of people diving with sharks and they don't even get a bite. So, I'll go with sharks!

FTV: Do you have good man-groupie stories?
I have a lot of them, but I'm going to keep those to myself!



FTV: Wiping out on any wave, especially a big wave, can lead to some serious “wardrobe malfunctions,” any tricks you’ve learned for keeping everything on, even when the wave is going off?
I don't surf in my swimsuit. I only surf in my wetsuit; that's rule #1. First is because I don't want to come out naked. But more than that, I don't want to have one more thing to worry about. There is so much involved already that the last thing I want to worry about is if I am naked or not! Also, if I have a lot of adrenaline, even if it's super hot - Tahiti, Hawaii - I'm always going to be cold. I get really cold with adrenaline. I wouldn't last out there if I didn't have a wetsuit.

FTV: What is your survival trick for hold-downs?
I think about everything that I did to be there. I just so truly believe that I deserve to be in waves that big and I've worked so hard, that I'm not going to drown. It keeps me calm.

FTV: Is there anything you worry about when you surf, that you know you shouldn’t, but you just can’t help yourself?
I don't think about too many things that are small. In those situations, the things I worry about are pretty big! Not breaking a bone, not dying under water, not losing the ski, not killing my partner...there's not a lot of room for the little things in there!