She Rips: Leah Dawson

By Kumari Sherriett

Meet Leah Dawson
Age: 21
Stance: Regular
Home Break: Empty lineups wherever they may exist.
Sponsors: Donald Takayama, Eric Swanson, SurfTech, Ratio Fin, Pualani Swimwear.

“Everything I’ve ever done for achievement has been for my parents to say ‘I’m proud of you,’” said Leah Dawson, gazing off in contemplation, “it’s more fulfilling than a barrel.” For Leah, achieving is an easy task. Positive vibes and motivation to succeed are Leah’s foundation and deep-rooted love for life. Disappointment and fear are just crumbs, easy to shake off, Leah’s existence is solely based on interactions of love.

Being a role model and auspicious (her favorite word) person to be around is never undermined by competition. As humble and sweet as she is on land, Leah can’t help but destroy it in the water. Her latest victory was at the T&C Surf Women’s Pipeline Pro held in March earlier this year, where she won the longboard division and placed second in the shortboard.

“It was the most exhausted I’ve ever been” she recalls, “but surfing alone at Pipe—a thousand guys would kill for that.” Back-to-back heats with big-time ladies like Keala Kennelly, Alana Blanchard and Rochelle Ballard is enough to throw a surfer into panic, but Pipeline at 6 feet? That’s a whole other world of stress.

Leah didn’t even remember the waves or the finals heat. She heard but didn’t comprehend her second place win from ashore, as she steadily paddled straight back out into the pumping waves for the longboard final, and into a perfect ten wave. She won the contest, stood in awe for the second year in a row on the winner’s podium, and then slept for the next 14 hours in recuperation.

But she doesn’t stop there this year. Her next adventure was her second trip to France for the Roxy World Championships, where she had gotten a nasty food bug on the last visit but still managed to beat out some old friends and rough competitors like Kassia Meador, in between nausea. Leah celebrated her 21st birthday in France this year, (not that the drinking age is relevant there) and she had high hopes for another celebration as well, “Of course I wanted to win the title,” she said before the contest, but sounded just as enthused when she placed ninth. “I couldn’t get my waves,” she said, adding that she was feeling an unlucky vibe during the contest. But spending time in Paris and Spain soon soothed her disappointment.

Aside from surfing, this young woman has a lot of other things going on. She is a full-time student at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa where she studies film in the Academy of Creative Media. In addition, she is learning how to play guitar, mastering Spanish (both of which she had made personal goals to complete by age 25), carving intricate designs on her skateboards and then tearing up hills, hiking, photography, drawing, wave riding of all kinds and taking life in through every breath.

The most time consuming of all is school, and the vigorous workload given to the film students. If Leah’s first career choice as a full-time surfer doesn’t pan out, then her second choice is to create culturally influential films that combine surfing and art. Filmmaking comes second nature to Leah as talent runs in the family from her father’s producing talents in films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and her professional ballerina sister. Her brother and mother are strong bases for support, and the family is as tight as they can get despite living so far away from each other.

Although Hawai‘i is where her heart lies, Leah grew up in Orlando, Florida and learned to surf at Sebastian Inlet, starting to compete at the age of seven. She spent every second of her summers on the waves by her parent’s beach house. In high school Leah began to travel to California for competitions, where she was confronted for the first time with the industry side of the surf scene. “There is so much materialism there,” she remembers. “It almost took the fun out of it for me.” The regular-foot’s style and personality have always been mellow and smooth, so the California living didn’t really live up to her expectations. Hawai‘i was the natural choice.

Leah lives by the wise words of one of the greatest surfer’s of all time, Gerry Lopez. ”The winner is the one who comes out with a smile on his face.” Gerry and Leah definitely have something in common.