Get in the water. It’ll keep you young. Photo: Finisterre
You know that old surf t-shirt that a million and one old guys wear? The one that says “Old Guys Rule.” It’s true, they do. But it’s not just old guys that rule. If you’ve been playing in the ocean for long enough, you too likely rule. The Granny Grommets, who are featured in Leah Rustomjee’s short film of the same name, definitely do.
The word grom comes from the word grommet. Now, outside of surfing, a grommet isn’t a grom. It’s just a ring in a tarp or a curtain or any other kind of material that needs a bit of extra strength. But in surfing, a grommet generally means a young person who is relatively new to surfing.
“The Granny Grommets, however, are claiming the term for themselves, ignoring the looming threats of sharks and concerns of their worried offspring to embrace the waves, with bodyboards in tow,” writes Rustomjee. “The group, based in the coastal town of Albany in Western Australia, was formed in 1999 and has been growing from strength to strength ever since…to date there are nearly 90 members taking to the waves every Friday morning, come rain or shine!”
The group began one morning after one of the grandmothers picked up her daughter at a surf class for mothers and daughters. Kim Buttfield, a Sports Consultant who would eventually co-found the Granny Grommets was running that particular class. It began with a joking question: “what about the grandmothers?” But that kicked things into motion, and Kim and Tony Harrison, a surf instructor and former professional surfer, decided they’d start a three-week introductory class for older women. And thus, the Granny Grommets were born.
The film is a hit anywhere people watch it. It won Finisterre‘s 2023 Women of the Sea Film Fund. It won Audience Choice Best Short at the Honolulu Surf Film Festival 2024, Viewer’s Choice, London Surf Film Festival 2023, and was an official selection at the International Ocean Film Festival 2024, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024, the Kendal Mountain Festival 2024, the Women Over 50 Film Festival 2024, the Canadian Sport Film Festival 2024, the Sunderland Shorts Film Festival 2024, and the CinefestOZ Film Festival 2024.
“United by their love of the ocean, this group serves as much more than simply a weekly exercise class,” Rustomjee wrote. “For some, it’s pure entertainment and for others an escape from their daily caring responsibilities, but unanimously they all agree it’s a place to make new connections and feel a sense of community.”
