With surfing in season, PVHS junior Ava Chessmore continues to be a great inspiration to many. Chessmore father first got her into surfing, and started at age seven.
“I started surfing when I was around seven, but when I was 11, that’s when I really started loving it,” Chessmore said.
Growing up in Palos Verdes, Chessmore was constantly at the beach. She was always waking up early in the winter to catch waves and in the summer to swim out to the orange buoy for junior lifeguards.
According to her peers, Chessmore’s passion for surfing separates her from the rest of the competition.
“My first impression of Ava was when she came on the team as a freshman and she showed a lot of effort to take on a big leadership role to help the other girls on the team succeed,” senior Pierce O’Leary said.
“Overall she is very determined. She is always searching for ways to increase her skills and separate herself from her competitors.She is always ambitious in finding new ways she can improve and get better.”
When Chessmore was 14 years old, she joined the high school team and quickly realized that she needed to be at the top of her game to compete with her rivals.
“There were definitely times after competitions that I got frustrated and wanted to stop competing but I never ever wanted to stop surfing,” Chessmore said.
Chessmore’s dedication is shown through her constant surf training. Her 6 A.M. surf sessions and constant traveling to find better waves is something she has been doing her whole life.
“My favorite surf trip was Costa Rica because I got to surf many different types of waves,” Chessmore said.
“My dad and I took a boat to this famous surf spot called Witches Rock.”