It’s only been three months since Keenan Lineback won the 18 and under division at the 11th Annual East Coast Wahine Championships. With winter fast approaching and the first year of high school on her shoulders, you’d think Keenan would buckle down and get into the groove of algebra classes and homecoming football games. Not Keenan, she’s been busy racking up more and more surfing titles and accolades to add to her ever impressive resume that will (if she wants it to) easily garner her a slot on the World Qualifying Series Tour by the time she graduates. Not too shabby for a girl that lives 30 minutes inland of wave starved Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
It took Keenan a few weeks to get back to me. I had emailed her some simple questions for
the website. She was busy traveling to Puerto Rico with Keala Kennelly and Sanoe Lake. Then she took the Girls Title at the 40th Annual ESA Easterns and earned a slot on the All-Stars Team. In October she headed to California where she took second at the USA Surfing Championships and earned a slot on the 2008 Pac-Sun USA Surfing Team. All this winning and somehow Keenan still remains a very humble and down to earth young woman. Here’s a quick Q and A with Keenan- and on a personal note, I’m a big fan and I hope she goes far!
How did you get into surfing and then how did that roll over into competing?
My dad would push me into waves and then he said maybe I should try competing since my older brother Hunter already did it and I loved it.
Do you still do competitive swimming? How long have you been doing it?
Yes, I still swim competitively. This is my eleventh year swimming altogether.
(ed note: She doesn’t mention it, but she’s just as successful in the swimming world)
Have you been doing some traveling for surfing? Is it for training,
contests, or for vacation?
Yes, well I went to Australia and New Zealand with the All-star team this past summer for training and after that my mom and Meghan Whitney, a photographer from this area, met up with me in California. I stayed there for a week and got some good shots, and that trip was for training as well. I just got back from Puerto Rico with some of the Billabong girls like Keala and Sanoe and also Liza Caban who is from there. I stayed one night with her and had a great time.
(ed note: Billabong Girls Team Manager Megan Brainard sent me an email when Keenan was in California to tell me that Keenan was just ripping and she was so excited to have Keenan on the team)
Are you going to continue doing ESA events? I know there is no NSSA near you, but are you planning on doing traveling for them?
Yes I am still doing the ESA, I am also doing the NSSA New Smyrna district as well.
When you have free time, what do you do?
Go to movies, hang out, go to our plantation to ride our four-wheelers, fish, and surf with my friends.
What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I pretty much like everything.
(ed note: umm, even opera?)
Do you have any pre-surf or pre-contest rituals you like to perform?
I stretch and pray.
What’s your favorite thing to eat after a long day of surfing?
I’m not a picky eater, food is food and I love it!
What size shape board are you riding right now? How many boards to you go through a year?
Right now I am riding a 5’1†squash shaped by Kelly Richards. With growing I need to keep adjusting the sizes, but mainly I just get a board when I need one.
What is the last book you read?
I had to do a book report on a biography or autobiography for school and I did it on Natalie Coughlin who is an Olympic swimmer and also gold medalist.
Do you have plans for your surfing say professionally? Would you want to go on tour after high school?
I want to get a scholarship for swimming in college and then do the ‘QS after college.
How do you feel when you paddle out in a heat? Do you get nervous? Do you feel serious? Is winning important?
I try to just think of it as a free surf session. I do get nervous, but it is because I am anxious before my heat.
Is it hard to be friends with someone and then have to surf against them?
No, I have so many surfing friends that I couldn’t name all of them even if I tried. I think that it is still great to be able to have close friends even though you still compete against them on a regular basis.
Who are some of the girls and guys you have the most fun surfing with?
Hunter (my bro), Jasset, Quincy, Ariel, Alexis, Liza, Amy, Cam, and Cole
If you could go on a surf trip with four of your all time favorite surfers,
where would you go and who would you go with?
Indo, but I couldn’t name just four people.
How important is it to have your parents support for your surfing?
It is very important to have supportive parents which I am very blessed to have.
Do you have any good wipeout stories?
I cut my foot on the reef at Middles in Puerto Rico and my dad super-glued it on the beach.
What are some of your best place finishes in surfing and/or swimming?
3rd place at the Billabong Jr. Pro, 1st in Girls and Junior Women at the FEW-New Zealand Scholastic Championships, 1st place in Advanced Shortboard at the East Coast Wahine Championships, 1st in Junior Women at the ECSC, and 1st place in Girls at Easterns.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
Lunch
What subject do you think they should teach but don’t?
I think that there are enough subjects already to keep everyone busy for a while.
Do you get to skip school if the waves are really really good?
Not likely.
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