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Just like the 10-metre waves Felicity Palmateer rides, her training as one of the world\u2019s best big-wave surfers comes with a strict warning.<\/p>\n
Do not try this at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy trainer has warned me not to talk about it too much in depth because if you don\u2019t do it properly it can get really dangerous,\u201d Palmateer says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking shallow-water blackouts and it can develop into a life-threatening situation really quickly, so I\u2019m wary of giving people ideas where they can hurt themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palmateer, 31, has made both a career and a day-to-day life out of navigating exactly that.<\/p>\n
In the past eight years she has: held the record for largest wave ridden by an Australian woman, finished second in 10-12 metre waves at Jaws Maui\u2019s infamous deep-water reef break in the 2019 Big Wave Championships and had the best seat in the house for good friend Laura Enever\u2019s world-record 44ft (13.3m) ride in January.<\/p>\n
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Felicity Palmateer prepares for Hawaii\u2019s big wave season and the Eddie Aikau Invitational.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Lauren Trickett <\/cite><\/p>\n It was Palmateer who encouraged Enever to join her at Oahu\u2019s outer-reef \u2018Himalayas\u2019 break that day because neither of them would be surfing in the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, the sport\u2019s most prestigious and exclusive event.<\/p>\n Footage shows Palmateer and her hot pink board right next to Enever as the pair paddled for the same record-breaking wave, before Enever claims right of way.<\/p>\n Now, Palmateer and Enever sit on the cusp of big-wave history yet again as Australia\u2019s first-ever female invitees to \u2018The Eddie\u2019 to be held at Waimea Bay, which requires 40ft waves and, as such, has only run 10 times since 1984.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I cried when the invite landed in my inbox,\u201d Palmateer says.<\/p>\n Felicity Palmateer on a monster at Jaws in Hawaii during the 2019 Big Wave Challenge.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Keoki Saguibo<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIn surfing there\u2019s just no greater honour. It\u2019s the most prestigious big wave event in the world and it holds so much significance in Hawaiian culture.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen have only been invited to this year\u2019s event [for the first time in January, which was famously won by local lifeguard Luke Shepardson who surfed 50-foot peaks either side of his shift at a wave-swept Waimea Bay] and only the best of the best are invited. To see my name alongside Kelly Slater is pretty surreal.<\/p>\n \u201cLaura and I had a pretty cool moment together during the [opening] ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole thing is a \u2018pinch me\u2019 moment, we\u2019re both aware that this is the highest honour in surfing and to be recognised on a global stage, it\u2019s a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n With a three-month window for the right swell and conditions in an already heaving El Nino-impacted season, it\u2019s the culmination of endless training and preparation for Palmateer too.<\/p>\n The Margaret River native has spent a lifetime in the water, one that started by being cajoled into \u201c10-foot surf at 10 years old\u201d by her father and well-known ceramic artist Warrick.<\/p>\n For several years now, Palmateer has done her most important training beneath the waves, focusing on Co2 tolerance training that can mean the difference between life and death if a 10-metre wave goes wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all well and good to do static breath holds and say, \u2018Yeah, I can hold my breath for four minutes\u2019, but that\u2019s not relatable to big wave surfing,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing relaxing about it, there\u2019s no nice, calm setting. It\u2019s violent. It\u2019s disorientating. Your heart rate is going through the roof. So with the training, you\u2019re trying to regulate your heart rate as quickly as possible, bringing your nervous system down.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like you\u2019re running at 10-speed on a treadmill at a maximum incline while holding your breath.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s as much stress as you can manufacture, underwater. But it\u2019s always with someone, never alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Which is why Palmateer is reluctant to go too far into detail.<\/p>\n Palmateer putting in the hours for a Hawaiian winter at home in Margaret\u2019s River.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Lauren Trickett<\/cite><\/p>\n Rush off and start doing a series of exercises underwater without the right training or guidance, and a shallow-water blackout \u2013 losing consciousness due to hypoxia \u2013 becomes all too real.<\/p>\n But for Palmateer, it\u2019s invaluable when a wall of water comes bearing down. Or, like in 2019 during the last big wave event at Jaws, the valve in her inflatable vest doesn\u2019t work, and the vest doesn\u2019t inflate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m up in the 4 or 5ams and I\u2019ll have an hour or so of stretching, mobility, functional breathing and visualisation most days,\u201d Palmateer says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the waves are big, that takes priority and I\u2019m surfing all day and I\u2019m always trying to keep the wax under my feet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2018The Eddie\u2019 – the story of the Eddie Aikau Invitational<\/h3>\n
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