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RVCA sponsored pro surfer Bettylou Sakura Johnson has emerged as one of the future stars in surfing. At just 20-years-old, she already has a win on the WSL Women’s Championship Tour this season after she took down the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro presented by GWM in Australia last month.
I was able to speak with Bettylou yesterday during an off day ahead of her quarterfinals matchup against reigning world champion Caroline Marks at Trestles on Saturday. We discussed her growing up in Oahu, how she trains out of the water, finding her calling in surfing, which surfer’s styles she idolizes the most, her incredible partnership with RVCA as a sponsor, and more. Check it out below!
INTERVIEW: How Growing Up In Oahu Prepared Bettylou Sakura Johnson For Life As A Pro Surfer
RVCA
Cass Anderson: “How do you think growing up surfing in Oahu prepared you for all of the different waves you face on the Championship Tour?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I would say growing up in Oahu with one of the most powerful waves that I’ve ever surfed has definitely set me up for the World Tour and waves that I travel to go surf… I feel like there’s no power like the ocean in Hawaii. So just having that platform where it’s the most powerful and the strongest, I’m able to travel and know my abilities and how far I can push myself. So I think Oahu has everything to do with the way I travel and attack the ocean.”
Cass Anderson: “What would a perfect season on the Championship Tour look like for you?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “The perfect season on the Championship Tour would be definitely winning a world title. That’s the main reason why I want to be on tour and travel and compete… So definitely winning events, to get the (Tour) lead and then the world title. However much (success) that takes because staying consistent is key.”
Cass Anderson: “Aside from the obvious of like being around your family and friends and sleeping in your own bed, what do you miss the most about home in Oahu when you’re on the road and traveling for competitions?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I would say the thing that I miss most about Oahu when I’m traveling would be like the fresh, warm, crisp air that Oahu has… It just has so much natural beauty around the whole island and I’m very much of a grounding person and I feel more grounded when I am at home surrounded by its nature and the views that it has to offer. So I definitely miss that the most.”
iStockphoto / kelp_dip
Cass Anderson: “As someone who has never been to the island of Oahu before, what is something I would absolutely have to do the first time visiting there?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I would say it depends if you’re like a hiker or not, but I would say to go see most of the island, I would recommend hiking Mt. Olomana Three Peak hike, you could see like almost the whole island on the east side. You can definitely see the whole east side, and that’s one of the most beautiful parts that Oahu has to offer. That’s something I would recommend doing.”
The One RVCA Item Bettylou Can’t Live Without
Cass Anderson: “What’s something from your sponsor RVCA that you cannot travel or live without?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “Something I can’t travel without that’s from RVCA… It would probably be my workout set that Alexis Wren has collabed with RVCA. It’s a purple workout set, like a tank top and biker shorts, and I live in it. I wear it all the time. I work out in it. So definitely that.”
Cass Anderson: “What does your training look like when you are outside of the water in terms of strength and resistance training when you aren’t surfing?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “Yeah, my training outside surfing would definitely be primarily dynamic workouts, you know, stretching but activating all those muscles as well. I do a lot of Pilates, but also a lot of weight training and I feel like training on the land is more important than training in the ocean just to help prevent all the injuries that we deal with that happen when we’re in the ocean.”
Cass Anderson: “When did you first believe in your surfing career that you had what it took to make it where you are now, competing for a world title, and that you could surf against and beat the best surfers in the world? Was there like one moment it all clicked or did the confidence come gradually over time?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I would say that I didn’t really know I wanted to be a professional surfer until I was maybe 12 years old when I won my first USA championships… That’s when I like really wanted to become a professional surfer and put my best foot in it and give it my best effort.”
“But I would say, honestly… not until once I qualified (for the Championship Tour), I was on tour, but I ended up falling off my first year and re-qualified and once I re-qualified that is kind of when I knew that like ‘I can do this‘ and I was maybe about 17 at the time and that’s when I realized that I could become the best and be the best, and that’s what I want to do.”
RVCA
Cass Anderson: “In just a totally hypothetical world, what one surfer on the Championship Tour, men’s or women’s, would you trade your surfing style with because you like the way they surf so much?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “Hmm, it’s a great question. There are so many amazing surfers out there… I think on the men’s side, I would really love to surf like John John Florence. I feel like no one on Tour in the world can honestly touch the power that he has when surfing big waves. He does the turns that no one else can do.”
“And then on the women’s side, I would say Stephanie Gilmore. She’s got this unique feminine style, and it just makes the wave look so beautiful when she rides it. And I think she has so many fans that just want to surf like her because she makes the wave look so beautiful.”
Cass Anderson: “If you weren’t a pro surfer, what would you think you might be doing now? Like had you not found your calling in surfing, where do you think life might have taken you?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I would say I would be in college. Maybe also doing gymnastics as well in college and wanting to pursue an Olympic campaign through Gymnastics. That’s what I had been doing before I found my thing, surfing, and I think I would have stuck with that.”
On Chasing The Next Great Wave
Cass Anderson: “Are there any waves that you haven’t had a chance to surf yet around the world or on the Tour that you’re looking forward to hitting in the future?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “Yes, there’s definitely. There are so many waves that I want to hunt down and surf, but the one that comes to mind is HT’s (Hollow Tree’s). It’s in the Mentawai. It’s like, I would say it’s one of the most perfect barreling rights, there is, so I would love to go surf there one day.”
Cass Anderson: “With the Lexus Trestles Pro resuming for you on Saturday, will you approach your quarterfinals against Caroline (Marks) any differently than any other quarterfinals with both of you having a Top 5 in the WSL Standings on the line? I know that you were in a heat together earlier this year, and she’s the reigning world champ, but I believe you won your match-up against her and that competition, right? So for a rematch of sorts, will you approach it any differently or are you just gonna go out and ride your waves because I think you rode twice as many waves in your heat against her as she did last time around.”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “Totally… I think, of course, going against Caroline… She’s an Olympian. She is a world champ. And so she knows the game very, very well. So to approach the heat with her… I would like to definitely stick to my own game and my own strengths, and I believe I can beat her that way. So yeah, I mainly just approach it by focusing on myself and the ocean and understanding what the ocean is doing at the time and then go out and try to do my best.”
Cass Anderson: “Before competition, do you have any music, mantras, books, or anything you like to read, listen to in order to get focused? Or do you prefer to just sort of relax and like you just said, get in touch with what the ocean’s doing at the time?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I feel like it changes for every competition for myself, whether I like to listen to music preheat or if I don’t. But lately I’ve not been listening to music and kind of just taking everything in and kind of trying to be more present because I feel like listening to music kind of takes that away and without music it makes you try to focus more on the ocean. But I feel like I’ve done pretty well with not listening to music and just listening to the people around me that are there supporting me and just looking at the ocean for hours and trying to understand it the best.”
Cass Anderson: “What is something that people in the surfing world or your fans might not know about you that they would be surprised to learn?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “That’s a great question. I would say, I feel like most people don’t know that I used to ride dirt bikes before surfing and that I grew up riding dirt bikes and it was definitely something my family would do every weekend.”
Cass Anderson: “Did you ever break any bones like inevitably happens to people who stick with dirtbiking or were you lucky and fortunate enough to get out before the carnage?”
BettyLou Sakura Johnson: “I was lucky enough to make it out before any broken bones.”
At the time that I’m publishing this on Friday, Bettylou Sakura Johnson is set to face off against reigning world champion Caroline Marks tomorrow in Quarterfinals – Heat 4 at the Lexus Trestles Pro in San Diego. If she wins that heat, she’ll face the winner of the Gabriela Bryan/Sawyer Lindblad heat and if she prevails in the semis she will face the winner of the Caitlin Simmers/Molly Picklum semifinal on the other side of that bracket.
Here is what Heat 6 looked like when Bettylou won the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro presented by GWM last month on Australia’s Gold Coast… A lot of names I just mentioned:
WSL
Realistically, she is less than 10 great waves away from winning her second event of the season which would be incredible. You can check out her aforementioned collection on RVCA right here to pick it up for yourself or someone in your life. You can also find Bettylou on Instagram here so go throw her a follow!