The Sea Together Podcast

Pro Surfer Becky Benson Jay

Sea Together Magazine with Brianna Ortega Season 5 Episode 1

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0:00 | 24:17

Season 5, Episode 1 

Becky Benson Jay has been surfing Oahu's waters for over 60 years, and in this episode she takes us back to 1976, when she was part of the very first group of women to compete on a world tour — long before there was any real money or respect in it. She tells the story of arriving in South Africa to find the sponsorship had fallen through, and the "options" they were offered instead (a wet t-shirt contest, a raffle for a date) instead of prize money. We talk about what it was like to walk away from competition for decades, only to come back last year and win the ISA World Masters Championship in El Salvador — treated, in her words, like royalty. Becky also opens up about ageism in the lineup, what it's like to have to prove herself to strangers who don't know her yet, her sister Blanche's wild comeback into tandem surfing after 30 years away, and the one truth she'd distill 60 years of surfing down to: happiness.

Sound Design: Caroline Belk

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