Jaleesa Vincent really wanted to be a dancer. After practicing for hours each week, the gifted, Sunshine Coast teen had tapped and twirled her way to a gig at Disneyland.

However, when the Disney trip clashed with the Australian Titles, Jaleesa ultimately ditched the dance routine for a saltwater act. Although convinced she’d made the right call, the decision was still painful.  “It was like this huge thing, like crying, ‘Oh my God, I’ve given up on my dream’.”

Jaleesa got pretty good at making it through heats and hauling on wet contest jerseys, but eventually became disenchanted with rigid judging criteria and cut-throat scenarios that turn surfing pals into ruthless snakes. “I didn’t really have a competitive bone in me,” she admits, whilst talking to Tracks in a video-recorded interview.  “Really, like, if my friends were paddling for a wave, like, so desperately. I was like, ‘you go, like, go get it’. So that clearly, like, wasn’t my calling.”

 Despite tossing away the comp singlet in her teens, Jaleesa still wanted to be a professional surfer – just without the wind-muffled heat sirens, the ugly scaffolding and the scoring systems. Big brother, Jake, was a major influence. Three years her senior, Jake seemed to have found his groove, mixing surfing with various other creative pursuits. “I kind of just followed him into surfing,” explains Jaleesa. “He’s really arty, and has a style of living that he’s adapted a lot.”

Polymath tendencies and a can-do attitude ensure there is never a dull moment for Jaleesa in or out of the water. Photo: Will Hunt.

Without the pressure to compete, Jaleesa was free to explore other muses. She still got a buzz from knifing a rail and kissing the lip but embracing her renaissance tendencies felt necessary.  “When I quit doing ...