Jenny Useldinger
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In the silence there is a massive blue body of water surging upward towards the sky. Wind naturally blows along the face of the wave creating a hissing sound as the trough bends over the reef. The lip begins to fold and the water cracks against the base of the wave. A roaring thunderous sound followed by a deep vibration sends chills through your entire body. There are those of us that surf, and there are those that charge into huge death defying waves. Where does that mentality come from? Why do certain people feel drawn to put themselves into the most dangerous situation possible?
“We would just sit there in groups and visualize, paddling in, standing up, just everything from getting to your feet to going down the wave, just going down, down, down and down and then bottom turn, Jenny Useldinger said.” “We would have our eyes shut and would just really see in our mind the waves that we wanted to ride.”
Surfing big waves isn’t just a physical challenge, but a test of one’s fortitude. For Jenny Useldinger, there was always a desire to ride big waves.
“I remember going into the O’Neil surf shop and looking at a poster of Jay Moriarty free falling at the cross, and thinking I want to do that, she said.”
Useldinger was born and raised in Northern California by her surf- hungry parents. She was dragged all over the world at a young age to places with good surf. Jenny had visited many countries including, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Barbados, Trinidad, Canada, Mexico, Florida Keys and the Bahamas, all by the age of twelve. Her mom and dad planned all their business trips around good surf spots during the best seasons. Jenny and her brother were able to tag along since their mom home schooled them. The biggest lesson learned was an education in surfing.
“My parents realized when they were younger where the good waves were; they would schedule their meetings in good wave spots during the good wave seasons, Useldinger said.” “Since my mom was our home school teacher, we would just bring the whole family sometimes.”
Surfing was never something they did on the weekends or did every once in a while, surfing was a way of life for the Useldinger family. And like many children, Jenny wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps of being a pro surfer. She trained for and competed on the World Qualifying Series (WQS), but at the same time she continued to chase her dreams of being a big wave rider. Her dream would soon become a reality after a chance encounter with one of surfing’s female big wave riding pioneers, Jahmila Star.
“I was nineteen years old and living in Oceanside, trying to do the WQS and training for Mavericks when I ran into [Jamilah Star] at the US Open in Huntington, Jenny said.” “I told her I wanted to pursue my love for big waves again and she said, ‘now is the time’.” “Jamilah said to me, ‘well before you go to Mavericks you should come and train with me in Hawaii’.”
