00:03:52.020Compared to other sports, I feel like surfing, you can kind of pinpoint if someone's going to really succeed.
00:03:57.840Whereas like soccer or baseball, like there can be a lot of like really talented children, I would say.
00:04:04.120But you're not going to be like, oh yeah, my child's going to be the best, the next best.
00:04:08.540I mean, maybe the odd parent might think that.
00:04:10.320But with surfing, I feel like it's just a little different because now being a parent myself, I'm like, my parents really were all in like almost too much.
00:04:19.880But I love that they were super supportive.
00:04:22.720Would you say that surfing, I've never surfed before, so I don't know that much about it.
00:04:28.240Would you say, based on what you just said, that you can kind of tell like who is going to be really good from an early age?
00:04:34.600Would you say it's more intuitive, like a more innate skill than maybe some other sports?
00:04:58.680But it's also something you can work at and get better at.
00:05:02.380And nowadays too, there's like wave pools.
00:05:04.800So there's some super talented surfers that have basically like gotten themselves to a professional level by spending a lot of time in the wave pools.
00:05:15.780And so, yeah, it's a mix of both, I would say.
00:05:18.780At the end of the day, hard work, perseverance, pushing yourself and like having the natural talent as well.
00:05:26.400So 13, you survive the attack, you wake up in the hospital and you think, as you said, wow, my dream is over.
00:05:34.640You had had this super promising career already by the time you were 13 and you're thinking it's all done.
00:06:03.280And I had a lot of family support and friends coming and encouraging me in so many amazing ways.
00:06:07.880But Mike Coots in particular, he had lost his leg to a shark and he had learned how to surf with one leg.
00:06:15.260And so he came in and he's like, hey, I think you can surf with one arm.
00:06:18.800I was practicing paddling out there this morning.
00:06:21.280And so he was my first like light bulb of like, okay, maybe I can surf.
00:06:27.180And then from there, I was just on a mission to get back in the water.
00:06:30.460And I think most people can't get past the whole shark thing.
00:06:35.500Like they don't want to go back in the ocean after something like that happens.
00:06:39.240But I don't know, you want to compare it to say driving in a car, like you're going to get back in your car and like still go to the grocery store for the most part.
00:06:52.400Maybe the odd one out of a million might really struggle and never want to get back in a car.
00:06:58.040But for me, like I said, surfing was more than just my childhood hobby.
00:07:03.720Like I feel like it was a way of life and culture and art and sport.
00:07:44.460And they just knew that it was part of who you were and that it would have been impossible for you probably to stay out of the water or it felt like it would have been.
00:07:53.060I think, too, I was exploring the unknown.
00:07:56.780I didn't know anyone with one arm, let alone a surfer with one arm.
00:08:43.040Was it a pretty straight line from A to B as far as recovery and getting better surfing with one arm?
00:08:48.800Or were there ever moments after that where you just felt yourself getting frustrated or discouraged or even fearful of an attack like that happening again?
00:08:59.760Yeah, so I would say it was it was a journey, of course, like any recovery.
00:09:08.660The physical journey was actually pretty straightforward and easy.
00:09:12.620But there were definitely days where I'd come in crying or I couldn't even make it out to the lineup because the waves were so intense and I just didn't have the speed or the power and like the duck diving abilities.
00:09:27.780So it took a while to regain my confidence in the ocean and adapt and figure out creative ways to do things differently.
00:09:37.220And so as time went on, it started to feel more natural and I just got used to it and I became better at adapting and figuring out Bethany's version of surfing and creativity out there and how I can do it differently.
00:09:53.260And I think outside of the water, too, is the same thing, like just trying to figure out how to do life.
00:10:00.280And there was a lot of frustrating moments, though, a lot of tears and frustrations and some down days for sure.
00:10:08.560But I would say that's where like my faith in God really propelled me forward through like the hardship and just trusting that God had a plan for my life and knowing that even at 13, I was like, well, maybe the Lord will use my story.
00:10:25.980And so I always had a heart for other people, like ever since I was little, like just could not wait to go on a mission trip.
00:10:36.540And so, yeah, I think I started getting letters to once I started surfing again from people like if you can surf with one arm, like I can overcome my hardship.
00:10:48.160And that as a 13 year old was kind of weird, but also really cool and beautiful.
00:10:53.060Yeah. And so is that how you kind of dealt with those moments that I'm sure that you had of why me?
00:11:01.820Why? Why did this happen to me of all people?
00:11:06.440Is that how you kind of combated those temptations to have thoughts like that?
00:11:14.780My mindset as a 13 year old inspires me to this day, like I don't feel like I'm like the same person today, like I mean, yes, I am.
00:11:25.820And like I carry a lot of that, but I remember just waking up in the hospital and thinking I'm so grateful to be alive, like I could have died.
00:11:34.340I knew very clearly that I could have died and I just think having that gratitude propelled me forward and focusing on what I could do propelled me forward instead of getting stuck in a rut of like woe is me.
00:11:50.980I have felt that woe is me and that's really hard to overcome and face in life.
00:12:00.880And all I can say is just trying to figure out what what can you do?
00:14:29.040I wouldn't say my competitive career was as successful as I maybe could have been, but there was a lot of rad moments along the way.
00:14:37.500And I would say the highlight of my surfing career is probably creating my documentary Unstoppable, which we started to create that as a 10 minute short film, just me pushing it in the ocean.
00:14:47.680And then it kind of turned into a bigger project.
00:14:50.560But there is the 10 minute short film within the documentary capturing me pushing female surfing and pushing myself in big waves, little waves, competitive, progressive female surfing.
00:15:04.600And so it was just so fun to push myself.
00:15:47.580And then four kids later, I'm still surfing pretty world-class level.
00:15:51.760Like, you know, I can make a heat and still shine out there, but just kind of focusing on motherhood and having fun and getting my children to the beach.
00:16:02.260Well, I have lots of questions about motherhood and all of that, but I'm curious how you felt as a teenager when your story became basically international news.
00:16:15.840Because I knew who you were when I was, you know, when I was young, when I was a teenager, everyone knew what had happened to you and even your testimony of faith.
00:16:26.020And I grew up in the evangelical world.
00:16:28.260And so we loved those testimonies, I think, for great reason.
00:16:31.520And so I knew your story and your name and have for a long time.
00:16:35.840What did you think about that when it became this, you know, the testimony that was heard around the world?
00:16:42.060It was crazy because that was right when social media was just kind of barely getting off the ground.
00:16:48.340It might have been MySpace days or like early Facebook days, but my story went viral without the social media.
00:16:55.900It was crazy, like literally worldwide.
00:17:04.120I was like more reserved, like just happy to be surfing, like just wanted to be with my friends, you know, teenager vibes.
00:17:11.240But like a good teenager vibe too, though.
00:17:13.440Like we were just rambling and adventuring in nature.
00:17:16.040Um, so that was super hard for me, but I also had that like heart to encourage and inspire others.
00:17:24.960So I kind of like fought it, fought the nature to want to like hide and was still willing to share my story.
00:17:33.080And I think my mom, mom and dad kind of pushed me along too, you know, but they were also awesome in the way that they did it.
00:17:39.740I would say, though, they also probably didn't fully comprehend what was going on, but, um, I, and then I remember we went to write my book soul surfer and I was like, okay, let's do this.
00:17:55.180Literally my teenage brain was like, I'm going to write this book.
00:17:58.280So I'd never have to tell my story again.
00:18:46.820And like, just so many children would pick up soul surfer and read that when they had never read a book before.
00:18:53.180Or just people going through immense hardship and remembering that they can keep going.
00:19:00.200And so it's just so, it's so amazing to see how even that dysfunctional teenager that wanted nothing to do with being in front of a camera or doing any sort of interviews or writing any sort of books.
00:19:13.520Um, still, God still worked through her.
00:19:21.800So Adam and I, he finished college, uh, you know, had a teaching degree and then he ended up out in Hawaii to help a friend start a young life chapter.
00:19:32.900He was like, Oh, I'm done with college, like a little free season.
00:19:36.440And then our friends just loved him so much.
00:19:39.500They wanted to keep him out there and find him a wife.
00:19:43.520And they set us up and then we kind of hit it off pretty quick.
00:19:47.780He just gave me a call and we met up at the beach and we, we jumped off a cliff into the ocean and he's from Kansas.
00:20:58.260Like I would say towards, once I start getting a bit bigger, I put more weight up on my upper chest and kind of like perch.
00:21:06.320And then there's certain types of waves that are better for surfing when I'm pregnant.
00:21:10.480So I picked my waves a little more strategically and I don't know, I surfed till seven months with my first couple and then six and a half months with my second too.
00:21:22.320So, and there was never like a moment of like worry for a baby and yeah, in Hawaii too, I will say a lot of women surf till literally the day they're giving birth.
00:21:36.080Like it's, it's a cultural thing of what they do.
00:21:38.540So then you get on social media and you like post stuff like that and people are like, what are you doing?
00:21:48.160Like, thanks for reiterating what we all already know.
00:21:51.800Women can do a lot more just in general while pregnant than people think, especially like for, you know, I had like had a friend who was a CrossFitter and she was really into CrossFit.
00:22:03.460And then when she got pregnant, she continued to do CrossFit like all through her pregnancy.
00:22:07.160And of course, like you said, there are precautions that you take, modifications and things like that.
00:22:11.760But pregnancy isn't like a disease that you necessarily have to stop doing everything for.
00:22:16.960And I will say there was moments in certain pregnancies where I had to slow down and ease up.
00:22:22.400Like I had pubic symphosis disorder at one point and had to do some rehabilitation after.
00:22:27.560And so like, there's some element of like, I do respect like what the body is going through.
00:26:04.420They, they're there to help support, you know, if Alea's fussing in the car while we're driving, I'm like, hand her toys, give her snacks, make her smile.
00:27:00.840Let's talk a little bit about a subject that you've started speaking up about in the past couple of years that I'm sure that you got a lot of support for on social media.
00:27:10.400And then, uh, a lot of detractors, of course, because it can be a polarizing subject.
00:27:15.500And that is the protection of women's sports.
00:27:18.920And my audience doesn't need an explanation for that.
00:27:24.640Of course, this is something that unfortunately has been pushed for quite a few years now, but allowing males to compete against women in the name of accepting gender identity.
00:27:34.940Um, you decided to speak out about this and so I just, I want to hear why you decided to make a stand because you could have decided not to.
00:27:48.780The World Surf League, um, I was competing in a women's pipe event, um, that was just before the World Surf League, which is like kind of like our main, um, competitive tour.
00:28:04.380And they emailed the entire tour, hey, like this is a new rule, just giving you a heads up.
00:28:11.840So, and the new rule was they were allowing males to compete against females and nobody got any precursor or pre-warning.
00:28:52.500Um, and so I was just like, oh my goodness, this is horrible.
00:28:58.200Like I've seen what's going on in other sports and I just knew that my, like, first of all, I'm very much so against that.
00:29:09.400And so, you know, I, I kind of hold to my values and I stand firm with what I believe and try not, you know, I don't really deviate much, you know, in my life.
00:29:28.760Um, but what really upset me about what was going on was the world surf league in January, prior to telling the girls what was going to go on and the guys, they had all the athletes sign, no disparaging agreement.
00:29:44.740Like you cannot say anything against the world surf league.
00:29:48.500And so here you have all the girls on tour, I would say at least 70% of them for sure were against it.
00:29:56.860And they've all signed a nine, non disparaging agreement.
00:30:00.720You'll get kicked off and you'll be fined if you speak out.
00:30:37.940Cause I knew it was just going to be gnarly out there.
00:30:41.240And, um, yeah, it just, I mean, my way, my approach was very much as asking questions.
00:30:48.740I didn't even state my opinion in the public.
00:30:52.280I just asked a bunch of questions like, cause in the rule it talked about, you know, must be on a hormone replacement for like nine or 12 months and must reach a certain number on the hormone levels.
00:31:06.860And see, even still to this day, I can barely even talk about it in like a political fashion.
00:31:26.300So yeah, it was crazy, but I'm really happy.
00:31:29.380I did it like, I just, and that was before I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, but I was like, if I ever have a daughter and I don't stand up for her and like somehow she's one day competing and a super talent in surfing or whatever sport she might choose.
00:31:45.800Like, I want her to have the opportunity to win a world title without competing against males.
00:31:53.080And so when I had my daughter, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is emotional.
00:31:58.720Oh, like thinking about like her future and all the young girls that are up and comers and just thinking, you know, as of now, there haven't been any males competing on the main world surf league that I know of.
00:32:15.120There was one male that won a men's event and then he went and won the women's event like a year or two later.
00:32:22.160Um, and so that was just crazy to me that people are accepting that I'm like, this doesn't really equal up to me to have someone compete in the men's win and then compete in the women's and win.
00:32:36.760And everyone's like, just whispers and chip chips.
00:32:39.440But I would say people out of the woodworks were thanking me.
00:32:43.700Like, I would say the majority of people are in agreement with, with my viewpoints or with me standing up against it.
00:32:53.260Um, I would say I am pretty disappointed that not more women spoke up.
00:32:58.520Like none of the former world title women spoke up women who have had amazing opportunities to compete in an equal playing field.
00:33:10.580Um, so that was super disappointing and none of the men really spoke up either.
00:33:17.420I'm like, where's the men out just because it's not your issue.
00:33:21.260It is in a sense, especially if you guys have daughters someday or something.
00:33:26.360Um, so that to me was pretty disappointing as well.
00:33:30.620So you said you were not going to compete.
00:33:33.180So I said, I'm not competing in any world surf league events.
00:33:36.800I did cheat a little cause I surfed in this one event that was like sanctioned world surf league.
00:33:41.300But the only reason why they sanctioned it was because they wanted to have the, the world tour surfers be able to be
00:33:47.420a part of the event, but I checked in advance to see if any guys were going to be in the girls division and there weren't.
00:33:54.920And so I was like, I'm going to bend the, my own rules for this one, because it was that pipeline too, which is just a world renowned wave.
00:34:02.180And it's a really hard to have a moment out there without any other surfers, but, and the company who puts on that event, they didn't even want the world safe league a part of it.
00:34:11.920They just did the sanctioning so they could have a few of the athletes from their, into their event.
00:34:34.260I don't know if you know this part, but so fast forward a little bit, they have, um, they do this special event where all the athletes can put a woman, um, who they admire on their Jersey.
00:34:47.520So their last name on their Jersey, and then they can like, uh, give kudos to that if in their post interviews, if they win their heats.
00:34:56.760And I think there was like a large number of athletes, I mean, maybe not large, maybe at least five, five or more athletes who wanted Bethany on their Jersey.
00:35:09.040They're like, she is, you know, I don't know what they're saying about me, but anyway, the world surf league did not allow them to have Bethany on their Jersey.
00:35:18.460And they just either put some name, they just changed the name for them, or they asked them for another name.
00:36:32.080But like, don't let it like eat away at your life.
00:36:34.540Like, I feel like I had a learning season where things were eating away at me and I'm like, I don't want to live my life with that.
00:36:42.580Like just being annoyed with the world around me.
00:36:45.580Like, I just want to be like a happy mom and a happy wife and like a good friend to the people around me and like a good example to those around me.
00:36:56.080It's definitely a balance because on the one hand you see things like the changes to title nine and like, as a mom of daughters, there's a lot of people who are mothers with daughters, but sons too.
00:37:08.600It's like, of course you're upset about this.
00:37:10.660And of course you're thinking about the future and you're like, well, like you have to think, well, girls even have girls sports or will it just be basically you've got boys sports and then you've got co-ed sports.
00:37:21.240You've got boys bathrooms and then you have co-ed bathrooms, boys locker rooms, co-ed locker rooms in the same thing with prisons, with rape shelters, domestic abuse shelters, like all of these places where vulnerable women or girl and girls are being forced to be with men and boys.
00:37:38.620And so I think there is a level of frustration and anger and angst that someone should have because it motivates them.
00:37:46.420Like it motivated you to say something, but you're absolutely right.
00:37:50.800It can't dominate your whole life because frankly, there's not something that we can do about it every second of every day.
00:37:58.240And most of our day is filled with the mundane quote unquote of being a mom and being a friend and being a church member and being a wife and all those things matter too.
00:38:19.800I really feel like if you are stressing out about everything going on in the world all the time, it affects the most beautiful God-given gifts and rules that you've been given.
00:38:31.960And so for me, like I just try to find that balance of like, I stand, you know, I stand where I stand and then I'm, I try not to like let it eat away at me.
00:38:44.840But I'm also not going to just sit on the sidelines and I feel like too, a lot of like, it's just such an interesting thing because I feel like if women just said no, like this wouldn't be an issue.
00:38:58.440Like if all the female surfers, if the 70% that disagreed with that, if they all said no, then the world surf league would not have an option, but to disregard the rule.
00:39:12.520I mean, they could try to disregard it and see what happens.
00:39:16.200I mean, there are some other girls that maybe would qualify and like make a new tour, but I feel like if 70% of the women just said no, like it literally wouldn't be an issue.
00:39:26.220And so that's also kind of frustrating to see.
00:39:30.240What do you say to people who say, well, why does it really matter in surfing?
00:39:34.960You know, someone could say, I could see how it matters in a sport where teams are interacting, like contact sports, but how does it really make a difference?
00:40:16.360And I know there's some women that like get crazy nuts and like push it with weightlifting and like in CrossFit, like you see these like beastly women, I don't know what other word to use, but like they're just super strong and they're incredible and they're like lifting.
00:40:31.200I don't know if it's all natural or what, but like you see these women doing these crazy things, but in surfing, there is quite a big gap.
00:40:40.200Like there's a lot of women, absolutely shredding, absolutely ripping, but for example, big wave surfing, men just paddle way faster and way stronger.
00:40:53.640There's the odd girl, but like, if you're going to be put into like a speed race, like men are just ways faster and way stronger.
00:41:02.100And so you get into a big wave situation and you have men and women competing against each other.
00:41:07.320For example, there's a Eddie Aikau, it's the biggest, one of the most, uh, respectable big wave events, um, in Hawaii, in memory of Eddie Aikau, who is just an incredible Hawaiian surfer who dedicated his life to the people around him, um, to his culture.
00:42:41.200And I didn't even think about just like the speed of paddling.
00:42:44.240But of course, I mean, I don't know all of the ins and outs of surfing, but that makes sense.
00:42:49.540If you're faster and have longer arms, it's going to give you an advantage.
00:42:53.580And then I often think about when I was a little girl, I would compete in all the boys divisions because I wanted to like push myself and try to beat the boys.
00:43:02.300But then once they hit puberty, things change.
00:43:06.780Like the guys that I was beating when I was little, I'm not beating now.
00:43:11.940Like they're surfing quite a bit better than me.
00:43:15.020And, um, I'm still inspired by them and I'm still like pushed by them in my own way.
00:43:22.240Like I love, like, I think most of the best of the best female surfers are watching the guys to glean off of inspiration, you know?
00:44:12.660He, like, I've heard rumors that he, he, or they, or whatever, they, um, are just as strong.
00:44:20.760And even though he's been on hormone, like he's super duper strong and super duper fast, it's weird that this isn't even a conversation.
00:44:30.900That's my, that's where I always end up.
00:44:32.740I'm like, why am I even talking about this, but I mean, it's, you know, it's like throughout history, there's
00:44:39.060always been that two plus two equals five question that tyrants want you to want to be able to control your thoughts and detach you from reality.
00:44:49.620I think this is the question of the time, but there's also, I mean, there's other issues too.
00:44:54.000I think of the denial of morality and reality and abortion, like denying that it's a baby inside the womb and that it's a human being with value.
00:45:03.780And that's also something that you have advocated for on behalf of the dignity of babies.
00:46:45.960And I just want to inspire our next generation that, to me, motherhood's the greatest gift I've ever been given.
00:46:52.680And I'd like to think that if I was in a worst-case scenario and happened to conceive a baby, you know, I don't need to divulge what the worst-case scenarios are.
00:47:03.300But I hope and pray that I would choose life and that I would allow that beautiful baby to enter into the world.
00:47:13.080And I would hope, you know, I have a friend who, she's a single mom.
00:47:18.080And she's one of the most inspiring moms I know.
00:47:21.320Like, every conversation I have with her inspires me to be a better mom.
00:47:25.700And it hasn't been easy for her, but she's rocked it.
00:48:16.240Like, those desperate situations that you were referencing are real.
00:48:20.580Of course, there are moms in crisis, moms in abuse situations, moms in poverty, all kinds of situations in which a woman might get pregnant and say, like, I just can't do this right now.
00:48:30.820And, of course, Planned Parenthood is going to say, sure, just pay us your 800 bucks or however much and we'll kill your baby.
00:48:41.820They never show them the truth of what an abortion is or what is happening inside their womb.
00:48:46.180But these pro-life pregnancy centers and pro-life organizations truly are just like the hands and feet of Jesus in the most nonjudgmental, loving, and embracing way.
00:48:56.460They take these women in, they not only share the gospel with them, but they provide them with so many resources, help, material needs.
00:49:04.840They help connect them to adoptive families if they want to put their child up for adoption.
00:49:12.140And so, like, there are ways for anyone out there who's like, well, I don't want to be pro-life because, or I don't want to vote pro-life or whatever it is because these moms are in desperate situations.
00:49:22.200Well, be a part of the solution rather than just talking about the problem because there are a lot of institutions already working to serve these women and we can be a part of, like, that life-saving effort.
00:49:35.260We don't just have to advocate for killing babies because that's the easier thing to do.
00:49:40.420I love, I just did a speaking event for the organization Save the Storks.
00:49:45.080And I love what they're doing because they're trying to create, or they're buying and making mobile pregnancy crisis trucks or vans.
00:49:56.700So they're going to areas where they know it's a crisis area and they're coming alongside of the women and supporting them to just have the full scope.