The rail tap that caused five stitches. Photo: Instagram
At any given moment in a lineup somewhere on this planet, someone is getting dropped in on. Whether an accident or intentional, it’s an inherent part of surfing. While most of these incidents occur without much fanfare, others go viral and penetrate even the most remote internet connections. One such drop-in by Brittany Penaroza last month fell into the latter category.
The Oahu-raised Penaroza posted a clip at Lombok’s Desert Point in which she unknowingly drops in on a fellow surfer. She received a forceful rail bump that sent her tumbling with the lip. The video has been viewed nearly 300,000 times on her profile and created a spirited debate in the comment section headlined by words from the GOAT himself.
“Deserts is blown,” said Kelly Slater. The Indonesian Olympian Rio Waida also chimed in, “Mwahaha, that was gnarly.”
As the summer’s most-seen drop-in circulated the internet, I noticed that everyone had their opinions and guesses about what happened that day at Desert Point. But, as far as I could tell, no one cared to ask Penaroza. So that’s what I did. While she was still enjoying the Indian Ocean waves in Bali, I gave her a ring to chat about the viral moment, what really happened, and her takeaways in the aftermath of the video.
There was lots of online speculation about what happened, but I don’t think we’ve heard your full version. Can you give the story behind that video?
It was so chaotic out at Deserts. There were like 100 people in the lineup, so (the guy who bumped me), amongst the entire lineup, was honestly paddling circles around me. I don’t blame him at all in particular, but I was absolutely sitting out there forever. I caught an insider, a small one compared to the rest of the waves coming through. I did hear somebody call me saying “go,” I thought, so I put the blinders on and started padding for the wave. There was a bunch of mist in my eyes, so I actually didn’t even see who was to the right of me. I took off and started pumping down the line. Before I knew it, I just saw the guy right next to me and I’m going over the lip doing a backflip. After that happened, I was pretty rattled. I didn’t really know what happened. I immediately paddled up to him to try to apologize, but he was a little dismissive. There was also a set coming, so we weren’t really able to communicate. Then 20 minutes go by and I look down at my foot and I see that I hit my fin underwater. I had to paddle in because my foot was bleeding like crazy. I eventually needed five stitches.
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Were you able to connect with this guy over social media once the video went viral? Or is he still a mystery surfer?
I went back to Deserts after about two weeks. When I saw him we made eye contact in the lineup and both started paddling to each other. We shook hands because my intention wasn’t to blast him from the post. I honestly thought it was funny. I wanted to make sure that he knew it was all good. From the clip it’s hard to gauge if that was really necessary to bump rails with me. I am still unsure about it, but ultimately it’s behind us. It’s hectic at Deserts – absolute chaos.
Oftentimes in those crazy, crowded lineups, taking turns goes out the window. What was it like that day?
There are locals out there and they’ll just drop in on you if they want a wave, which is fair. But there really isn’t an uncle or anyone who organizes the peak, like what I’m used to. And in particular, the way Deserts works, it has this current that swirls at the peak. It makes it really hard to hold your position. That day had the craziest current and it was really slow – sets were coming through every 30-40 minutes. It had to be a free-for-all, but there were a handful of people catching a lot of waves.
That reminds me of one of my Pavones sessions this year. You have to be so aggressive to get waves.
Yeah, honestly I feel like I’m going into battle every time, especially being the only girl out there.
This clip polarized the internet. What’s the sentiment you’ve been receiving from your social media messages and comments since it was posted?
I tried not to look at the comment section. I knew it was going to be polarizing, so I just put my phone away for a week. I’m happy because a lot of the people that matter – people whose opinions I care about – were actually really encouraging. They know how it goes out at Deserts and those were the people that thought it was funny. But wow, people that are random on the internet were quite mean. I got some really aggressive messages. One DM I received from this guy was like, “If I ever saw you in the lineup and you did that, I would have no problem hitting you.” I was pretty rattled to receive stuff like that. Ultimately, I tried to treat it like water off a duck’s back. A lot of people were saying I deserved it. There’s just so much anger and frustration. I feel like nobody deserves to ever get hurt from the waves or being in the water. It should be a really enjoyable experience.
I agree. I often have a love-hate relationship with surfing because of that.
It’s ironic that surfing is such a beautiful way to connect with the ocean, but it’s actually kind of creating addicts. Everybody’s chasing this high and looks at every other person in the lineup as someone who actively keeps them from that high. If you see me in the lineup, I think you can ask anyone, I’m normally really chill.
When Kelly Slater comments on your post it’s a big deal, so I admire your ability to put the phone away.
Yeah, oh my gosh. I screenshoted that (laughs).
Is that your most viewed social media post ever? Any press is good press, right?
I guess it’s my most viewed video in recent times, other than TikTok videos in the past. Part of me wishes it was one of my barrel clips that did well, but I completely get why that blew up. Whatever. I got some sh*t on Instagram, but ultimately it was a funny situation.
Did you see a big spike in followers?
I think I got 500-600 followers. But it did make me think about how, in this world, the goal and your value is to get more followers. But I was like, do I want to get popular based on this sort of attention? I would rather post content that has a lot more substance and brings value to people.
Do you have any plans to go back to Desert Point anytime soon?
Like I said, I went back a couple of weeks later, after I got my stitches out. The stitches weren’t that bad, but the infection in my foot was insane. I couldn’t walk for a week and a half and had to take antibiotics. Once I was sorted from that I went back and on my second wave I pulled into a close-out and semi-dislocated my shoulder. So I’m kind of taking it easy. I didn’t go the last swell and it’s starting to get into the later season winds (more onshore). I might try to send one more swell because it’s the best wave in the world. I don’t even care about putting myself into those hectic lineups because it just feels so amazing when you get one.
Any other thoughts on this chaotic situation?
I just hope that the surf industry – and surfers, in general – have a little bit more grace towards each other. We’re all trying to enjoy the ocean. I think if everyone was a little more generous with each other, that would be better. When it comes to localism and the hierarchy of the peak, it’s important to maintain a little bit of order, as long as people don’t abuse it. But leading with aloha is number one. If you do get in a situation with someone, just make peace. That is always the better route to take.
