“It’s like dèjá vu all over again.”

Yogi Berra

Yogi’s famous quote immediately sprang to mind when I learned that Audrey was selected as the Rider of the Month. You see this would be the second time that I have interviewed and photographed her. The first time was around a year ago when she was the first rider to volunteer for a series I was doing to promote female surfing entitled “Surf Like a Girl”, so I was naturally curious to see how she might have changed from our first meeting.

Audrey is now nine years old and attends 3rd grade at Ada Harris Elementary School. She learned to surf at the age of eight and credits her father with teaching her how to ride. The enthusiasm I detected last time for the sport was still there. She told me that her favorite break is at Oceanside Jetty and when the surf is up she will typically spend 2-3 hours riding. She now competes for the WSA, competed in her first Encinitas Boardriders contest in January, placing 3rd in her division, and took 1st place in her division at the Windansea Menehune contest this past fall.

Audrey is a multi-sport athlete. She plays soccer and skates as well. Some of her skating involves surf skating, which she is using to improve her surfing style. She also intends to go out for flag football next year. I’m guessing she won’t be drafted at the middle linebacker slot, but I can definitely see her as a swift and agile ball carrier.

Some of the things that impressed me the first time I met Audrey remained the same. She is a sweet kid who is fearless in the water. The waves were forecasted to be 4-6 feet at the Reef and she had no trepidation about paddling out in them and jumping on for a ride. Also she is just as excited now about the sport as I remember her to be.

There is one major difference in the grom I met this time from the previous version; confidence. Although soft spoken, she gave thoughtful and sincere answers to my questions, without hesitation or prompting. She is a much stronger rider now as she relied noticeably less on her Dad for push-ins this time. She was also a natural in front of the camera; totally relaxed, comfortable and confident.

Since I opened with a quote, I think I’ll end with another.
“I’m not surfing to win and be famous, I’m surfing because I love it and want to have fun”.
Audrey Gullo

Written and photographed by Nicholas Paoni