Finals at the World Cup at Haleiwa.
Alisa Cairns is a rare breed. The 10-year world championship tour veteran finished at a high of 4th place in the world the same year she graduated from UCLA. While she has since moved on from competitive surfing, she was inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame in 2012, and she frequently gets in the water with her legendary husband, Ian Cairns, and their twin sons. I caught up with Alisa to get some words of wisdom from her the lessons she’s learned along the way.
Lesson 1: Time in the Classroom
From the youngest age I just enjoyed school… all the aspects of it from the classes to the variety of people. Even though I was going on to pursue a professional surfing career I also knew I always wanted to go on to university to get a degree. I wouldn’t trade [my degree] for anything. I’m really happy I did what I did. I feel lucky that it worked out the way it did: that I could go on tour and not have it hinder going to school.
UCLA was accessible. It was close enough to the beach, but it was still far enough away from home to feel like I was going away to school. Also, for traveling, LAX is right there. It was also a cool place to go because of the sports. I had roommates that were on the tennis and track team when I was in the dorms. It was a very academic but also really athletic focused school.
The thing is that when you’re out on the road on tour, there’s a lot of waiting. If you’re not practicing you’re just waiting for your heat or for the event to start or for the tide to change. You actually do have time to get schoolwork done. I think it would be a lot easier now with the Internet. I mean for me I used to have people tape class for me, and I’d listen to the cassette tapes when I was on the road. I’m actually really proud because my best year on tour when I ranked the highest at 4th in the world in 1986 and that was also my senior year when I graduated from UCLA.
It was a really great time in my life and I’m just really grateful I got to have those experiences along with the surfing. My experiences both in school and on the road have definitely made me a more worldly person. Because of my experiences I’ve become interested in a lot of different facets of the world.
Lesson 2: Experiences on the Road
The thing is, in the early days being a women’s pro surfer, there wasn’t much money in it. The travels were still pretty expensive. The prize money and the sponsorship today are so different. You just had to learn to be really frugal and team up with people. You also had to work hard at the event because you needed the money to get you to the next event.
When I was traveling, I always tried to see a little bit more of the place. Not just get caught up in the airport, hotel, and beach. I’d try to rent a car and drive around. I really wanted to see the whole area I was visiting.
The tour schedule has a lot of events. You have to learn not to let one event affect your mindset. You set your goals for the year, and you know what you want to do. You’re training and putting in your 100% into preparing for a season. Figuring out what events you’re going to, dialing in your equipment, learning about where you’re going to, and just being all set for the season–it’s a lot of work. It took a while for me to learn how to not get down when you fly all the way across the world to lose first round.
Losing in the first round can be pretty devastating, especially when you’ve traveled all the way to say South Africa or Japan. We didn’t have loser’s rounds or anything like that, so sometimes you would surf a 20-minute heat, lose, and jump back on the plane.
You have to learn that in the end that’s only one event. You can’t let it affect you so negatively that you can’t get ready for the next event. Trying to be positive all the time is super important.
You can get around a lot of people its like a small clique. Everyone starts to know intimate things about everybody. You have to be really positive and not let anybody else get into your head in a way that’s going to affect you. It’s a long exciting year, it’s going to have its up and downs but you have to stay positive to make each event a good experience.
Lesson 3: Everything Else
I’ve done a lot, but in a lot of time. I mean, I just turned 50. That’s almost 40 years of my life that have revolved around surfing. And I hope to be out there for the rest of my life. Just being in the water keeps you not only physically healthy, but mentally healthy I think, as well. I’m not even picky. It doesn’t matter so much about how bad the waves are. I just want to be out there.
You know, sometimes I wish I ‘d worked a little more within the industry, or at least within a company, so I’d have a little bit more financial security. But I mean, even though I’m not financially wealthy, I’m rich in experiences that surfing has given me. I’m perfectly happy with it. There will always be times where you’re struggling, but I mean everything is pretty good.
For me, it’s always been about hard work and a positive attitude. I think those are the things my dad has really instilled in me. Without having to say it, he always just showed me to work hard, stay positive, and do what you want to do. Make sure you’re enjoying yourself. When you decide what you want to do, you work at it, and you give it 100%, and no matter what, just be happy about the decisions you make.
