Interview with Kelia Gallina, from the pages of Tracks, Issue #590
Surfing has always had its wunderkinds. Preternaturally gifted groms who can lean on a rail and whip the lip with enviable ease. While riding waves is something most of us must work at to achieve a modicum of proficiency, these prodigies seem to be born with an innate ability to anticipate and react adroitly to the constant flux of broken water.
One might simply call it ‘having the knack’. Take the time when seasoned pro Matt Kechele first laid eyes on a rubber-limbed kid called Kelly Slater spinning through a Florida shorey. “It was incredible. I saw him do three backside 360s on this boogie board with fins,” commented Kechele in a recent article for The Surfer’s Journal. When Kelia Gallina’s name is tossed about amongst photogs and surfers you can hear a similar kind of awe resonating in their voice.
future surfing queen. Photo: Greg Nagel
Born and raised in Tahiti to an American-Hawaiian dad and a Tahitian mum, Kelia is mostly like other 10-year-olds. She likes drawing in her sketchpad, hanging out with her friends and somewhat randomly, Badminton. However, unlike most pre-teen girls Kelia is riding Teahupo’o on a regular basis, hurling her sun-kissed, blonde mop and 4’2” over the sheer ledge, knifing a rail and deftly navigating one of the scariest waves in the world. At age eight she was featured on French television, innocently delivering a clear message in fluent French to travellers and Teahupo’o hopefuls. “I’ve been surfing here for four years now… Not everyone can surf this wave. It can be dangerous if you don’t know how to surf.”
Kelia’s best friend and regular surf buddy, Teravani Thornton, is a year younger (nine at the time of writing) and they regularly spend their days roaming their island-home in search of the best waves. Together they are spurred on by a boundary-breaking, Teahupo’o brat pack who are riding foamball deep through their teens.
While not short on confidence, Kelia concedes she’s already taken a few licks. “I’ve had some bad wipeouts. The worst one I couldn’t bend my knee for three days straight. I just walked around the house dragging my foot. … I’ve never broken a board though,” she boasts proudly. “Plenty of leashes though.”
It’s not just her plucky approach to Chopes that has earned Kelia acclaim. Scroll through her ‘Miss Teahupo’o’ Instagram handle and you will see ample evidence of a refined style that lands her somewhere between a young Steph Gilmore and Lisa Anderson. There’s a suite of sponsors to support Kelia’s accelerated development and her precocity has already earned her parts in movies and invites to Kelly’s wave pool and Waco Texas – for the record she preferred Waco. Quizzed about her competitive aspirations, Kelia has no qualms about letting you know when she aims to be the World Champion. “Probably try to be the youngest I can be, I hope like 14 or 15, ” she says with a quiet self-assurance.
For now, the girl with the golden hair is happy to surf six hours a day and replace all that expended energy with her favourite food – waffles smothered in ice-cream. Teahupo’o’s thunderous barrels are in earshot of home, her parents lease accommodation and transport to the world’s best surfers who come knocking on her door when there’s a swell or a contest, and next year the Olympics will be in town. It’s not a half-bad way to get a surfing education and it will certainly be interesting to follow the trajectory of one Kelia Mehani Indi Gallina – remember the name.
