Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Swim Against the Tide

Often I get asked, “What was it like being raised by Stephanie Cabrera, Puerto Rico’s first female surf champion.”



My Mom taught us how to surf, even though we lived 700 miles from the nearest ocean. For 11 years she worked the night shift as a marketing director for the Casino. She would suit up at 6pm and return at 3am to sea the three of us sleeping in her bed, but hey sometimes life’s a beach. Even the best surfer has to get down on their knees every once in a while. When it was pouring rain and all of our friends were summoned to the inside of their homes, she would put on our boots and take us outside. The rain would drench us instantly as we puddle jumped on the abandoned, city streets. When we would go out to restaurants we could only order water and growing up my favorite food was her Spinach Quiche. We never got to eat Fruit Loops or Pop Tarts for breakfast. The worst day of my life was the day she went to the thrift store and bought a pair of shorts made out of a potato sack. She wore them all the time. Frankly she didn't care what was cool. She always taught us to swim against the tide. Speaking of Tide, I also did a lot of laundry since my brother and sister were lazy bums. Wili could cook so I forgive him and Suni liked to pay me to keep her secrets so I forgive her too.


I’ve won a couple pretty nice awards so far in life (Miss Florida Latina, Miss Puerto Rican Parade, etc.), but the one that has meant the most to me was given to me in the 5th grade. It was a simple piece of paper given to me by my entire class that said, “Cristina Neal – Stands Up for Other People Award.” The most important step in life and in surfing is building momentum and having the courage to stand up. I remember a story my Mom used to tell me when I was little. In school she desperately wanted to fit in, but never felt part of the group. She overheard the “cool girls” talking about how they were going to cut their hair and that she should also cut her hair. The next day my Mom went to school with her beautiful, long hair cut very short and all the girls made fun of her for actually falling for it. From that day forward she promised to always be true to herself.



Almost everyday she found herself hanging out at the beach, across the street from her house. She would convince the boys to let her borrow their surfboards. At the time most girls where forbidden to surf by their parents and society. Eventually she realized she was pretty good at this thing called surfing and even bought her own surfboard. Something amazing happened; she no longer cared what the girls at school thought or said about her. At the end of the day it was her and her board, best friends forever. Finishing up she would ask me, “and do you know what the funny part of the story is? When I stopped caring about being cool, is when I actually became cool. People started liking me because I was swimming against the tide.” Over the years I remember this story often. In high school I didn’t drink, do drugs, or even go to a single party, but I still managed to win homecoming queen in a school of 4,000 students. Why? Because people respect you when you do you. Before leaving to college my Mom told me her secret to becoming the first female surf champion of Puerto Rico, “Keep your balance.” After all life is all a balance between the spiritual, physical, and emotional. At the end of the day, when your wave comes to an end, and your ride is over… you have to be ready to wipeout.



Cristina Neal 
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Stephanie Cabrera will be at Legend Surf Classic in Rincon January 18-20 2014

1 comment:

  1. Cristina, I didn't know you started a blog. How fun! And I also didn't know your mom was the first female swim champion of Puerto Rico. Another fun fact! Keep the posts coming :)

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