How surfing keeps you healthy and young at heart: ‘silver surfers’ on riding waves in their 60s
- A quartet of Hong Kong wave riders in their 60s share tips on keeping up with the physically challenging sport, including diet and injury management
- Sharing the fun across generations, especially with grandkids, also keeps them feeling young
“I’m going to surf until I’m 100.”
Wanda Kennedy would repeat this to her schoolmates when she started surfing as a teenager in Australia. More than 50 years later, the 68-year-old Hongkonger and retired English teacher, nicknamed “Tai-san” or Tarzan for her athleticism, is still at the physically demanding sport, catching the waves at Sai Kung’s Tai Long Wan (“Big Wave Bay”) every weekend.
Kennedy is among a handful of Hong Kong’s surf stalwarts above the age of 60, including fellow Big Wave Bay regular Wilma Komala, and Robert Stewart from Mui Wo on Lantau Island. All three are regarded as local legends for their dedication to the lifestyle.
“Once you get the surfing bug, you never ever lose it,” says Stewart, who at 61 has been surfing for more than 45 years. “It’s almost a religion. We revere the best surfer, the best spots – and when you’re done, it’s like being done at church. You come out feeling as if your soul has been cleansed, because of the water, the sun and the wind.”
Komala, 64, is a familiar sight at Big Wave Bay with her pink board and pink lip balm – so much so that locals call her “The Pink Lady”. Raised in Hong Kong with an Indonesian heritage, the business school lecturer began surfing at 40, uncommon in a sport in which some begin as early as five.
“I’d be in the water getting trashed by waves and laughed at by people,” recalls Komala, who grew up swimming in Hong Kong’s waters, but only picked up a board after moving to Big Wave Bay in 1995. “It was annoying, but I said, I’m gonna sort this out, I’m gonna do it. Why? Because I like it.”