Biggest Wave Ever Surfed

Inside the headspace of Evan Geiselman. Presented by Dragon

Welcome to Episode Two of Dragon’s Frame of Mind series. And what is it, exactly? It’s 60 seconds inside a surfer’s cranium, where we get a fast-paced look into what drives them. Future episodes include Mick Fanning, Shane Dorian, Luke Hynd, and more. But this week, the focus is on Florida’s Evan Geiselman. We gave him a ring to get inside his head about, well, what’s inside his head.

On New Smyrna Beach, Florida:

I spent a lot of time in California for four years. But when I came back here, I realized how much better it is for me as a home base. It’s so comfortable. I know everybody. I have my own routine. Where I live in Smyrna, it’s my own little paradise. California just got a bit chaotic for me, and I’m on the road for nine months out of the year anyway, so coming home to Florida for a couple of weeks between events and trips to reset is nice, and something I look forward to.

On playing golf:

My brother got me into it, and then he stopped playing, but I got completely hooked. I got the bug so bad that it cut into my surf time, and that wasn’t cool for a little bit [Laughs]. I have that under control now, and I got fairly decent at the game for an average golfer. I like it so much because it’s competitive. Every shot matters. You can bet with your friends, play little games…and it’s the weirdest game in the world. One day, I can be the best at it, and the next, it’ll be like I’ve never played before. I love the constant challenge of golfing. I think it actually helps my surfing.

On his ‘QS handycam:

I happened to bring a handycam to Japan last year for the first time, and I ended up winning the contest. My first ‘QS win ever. That was pretty ironic. Ever since then, I’ve been bringing it along. I make little edits from the ‘QS just to have fun, and to show some behind-the-scenes stuff from the tour, because you can kind of get lost on that thing. Nobody really watches until you get to Hawaii.

On scoring good waves:

You’re surfing such average waves on the ‘QS, and I noticed that for awhile I wasn’t surfing good waves at all, and I was caught up trying to surf to a certain criteria all of the time. I didn’t even do surf trips, because everything was always about getting ready for the next comp. Now, I’m trying to score waves between events because surfing good waves resets me and gets me more fired up to go to these ‘QS events and do well. Every time I get a month-long break from the ‘QS, I’m looking at swells around the world and trying to make the most of it. Like last year, after Ballito: I lost early, saw a swell was headed for J-Bay, booked the next flight out, took the car from Yadin [Nicol] and drove to the airport solo, stalled out the entire way because I didn’t know how to drive stick [Laughs]…but, I eventually made it and absolutely scored. It’s gotta be one of my top three favorite waves in the world. Speaking of which: I’m off to Africa in a week, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to go back.

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