If the ocean were a book, Story Martinez could predict the next chapter. She’s carving up a wave, throwing in a tail slide and having the time of her life.
Martinez, 13, has only just begun to flip the page.
The Pungo resident is an up-and-coming surfer who is putting in the time and effort to make a name for herself on the big stage. Martinez competed in the East Coast Surfing Championships last August at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
Martinez’s goal is to eventually qualify for the World Surf League’s Championship Tour for shortboard and longboard. But for now, she’s beginning to transition out of the amateur circuit and into the pros.
She’s currently ranked 55th in the WSL’s Women’s Qualifying Series. She’s a member of USA Surfing’s Junior National Team and spends most of her summers in San Clemente, California, taking on big waves at the renowned surf spot Trestles Beach.
“We give her every training tool,” said her father, Ashley. “She’s able to compete at the highest level without any distractions, without any monetary distractions, without any mental distractions.”
Martinez owns 30 surfboards and surfs every day, multiple times a day. Since returning to her hometown this month, she’s been training in the new surf lagoon at Atlantic Park and helps teach at a local surf camp.
Longtime Virginia Beach surfer Lucas Rogers, her coach, started giving her pointers at age 5 when she tried the sport for the first time at Pungo Board House’s surf camp.
“She was so happy after riding her first couple of waves,” Rogers said.
Martinez’s strongest skill now is her ability to read the waves, said her coach.
“Just from being in the ocean at such a young age and putting so much time in, she’s really developed her skills,” Rogers said. “She’s got a really smooth style.”
She’s petite — slightly over 5 feet-tall — and can link an array of turns on the wave from a vertical snap to a tail slide to a carve — dynamic maneuvers that require balance and grace.
Martinez has collected a room full of accolades from amateur competitions, and now she’s focusing on getting stronger to excel at the pro level. She recently started weightlifting, doing squats and other strength training geared for building surfing muscles, and is spending as much time as possible catching waves.
“It’s all time in the water; it’s all experience,” said her father.
She has multiple sponsors, including Roxy, Lost Surfboards, WRV, Atlantic Surf Park and Monster Energy, though she can’t consume energy drinks until she’s 16. She’s homeschooled and can travel to surf destinations around the world throughout the year.
Despite her aggressive schedule, Martinez is still a teenager who enjoys riding her pink electric bicycle, playing with her two dogs, eating sour gummy candies, listening to country music and wearing bright-colored, press-on nails.
After helping at a surf camp session in Sandbridge recently, Martinez rested her head on her surfboard deck and floated over the calm waves. Her floral-print wetsuit blended into the green-gray water. Her long strands of hair spread out heavy across her back.
She was at home.
“You know, like, when you’re standing at the ocean’s edge and the sand and the water’s coming over your feet?” she said. “Imagine feeling that over your whole body, especially when you duck dive a wave and go under, it feels even better.”
Stacy Parker (757) 222-5125
stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
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