I plan to bodysurf well into my 80s (and beyond?), and the best part is that bodysurfing might actually help me get there.
The secret to lifelong fitness is…there is no secret. There are no hacks, no shortcuts to getting and staying in shape. The key is to never stop moving.
When it comes to staying fit and active into old age, consistency is the name of the game. It could be walking, lifting weights, yoga, swimming, cycling, whatever. Just find a physical activity you enjoy (preferably outdoors), and do it as much as you can.
This may sound like basic advice, yet 75% of Americans don’t exercise regularly.
Part of the problem is the overwhelming amount of conflicting information about diet and exercise. Many people feel paralyzed and never start, while others begin enthusiastically but quit later due to injury, loss of motivation, or boredom.
But exercise doesn’t have to be grueling to be beneficial to our health—bodysurfing is a perfect example of that.
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Exploring the Health Benefits of Bodysurfing
Bodysurfing is equal parts exercise and therapy, a potent combination for healthspan—the portion of one’s life lived with optimal physical, cognitive, and emotional wellbeing.
In his best-selling book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Dr. Peter Attia writes, “Exercise is by far the most potent longevity drug. No other intervention does nearly as much to prolong our lifespan and preserve our cognitive and physical function.”
Bodysurfing provides pleasurable exercise that engages almost every major muscle group—abdominals, back, shoulders, legs—while being gentle on the joints due to saltwater buoyancy.
Vitally, bodysurfing requires steady-state (Zone 2) cardio, aerobic exercise performed at a consistent, moderate intensity for a sustained period. It also involves sprint swimming (Zone 5), which trains the heart, lungs, and muscles to operate at maximum capacity.
A moving meditation in nature, bodysurfing offers mental and emotional benefits that complement the stress-relief effects of exercise. In this sense, we can think of bodysurfing as aquatic yoga, an activity that is both invigorating and healing.
Sun exposure while bodysurfing helps our bodies make vitamin D, which is necessary for bone density, muscle function, immune regulation, and mood balance. And there’s nothing that can replace the feeling of receiving energy from swells that have traveled hundreds of miles across the ocean to be transmitted to (and through) our bodies.
Not to mention all the incredible flora and fauna we observe while swimming in the sea. As bodysurfer Mark Cunningham elegantly explains, “You’ve got a beautiful sunrise or sunset, the fish and turtles swimming underneath you, this incredible coming together of the earth, sea, and sky, and you get to feelin’ real lucky and thankful and happy to be alive.”
No wave pool for me, I’ll take the real thing!
My Journey to a Longevity Mindset
At this point, you may be wondering why I’m so interested in bodysurfing at 80 given the fact I’m just 33 years old. Let me provide a bit of context.
There is talk of bodysurfing becoming an olympic sport in the near future. Upon hearing this news, I wondered how I would stack up against the world’s best bodysurfers, so I entered my first ever bodysurfing competition organized by USA Bodysurfing.
After competing, however, I found that I didn’t really like being “on stage.” The experience of being judged took away some of the pleasure of the pastime (notice I’m not using the word sport). During my heats, I simply wanted to enjoy riding waves with other great bodysurfers; my competitive edge was nonexistent.
I don’t want to lose my love for bodysurfing by comparing myself to others and thinking I’m not good enough. I want to continue improving, not to gain recognition or medal in the Olympics, but for the sake of the pursuit itself.
Thus, I have since switched my mindset from a competitive one to one of longevity, focusing instead on lifelong mastery and fulfillment. “After all,” writes Ryan Masters, “the greatest bodysurfer in the world is an anonymous bodhisat quietly ripping waves in some remote, swell-blessed corner of the Pacific Ocean, blissfully unaware of competition.”
In fact, I consider myself lucky to have shifted to a longevity mindset in my early 30s. The more exercise we do when we’re young and healthy, the easier it is to stave off physical (and mental) decline in old age.
The goal is not simply to live a long life, but a long life in good health, allowing us to continue doing the things we love in our latter years.
Bodysurfing is my favorite form of exercise, and I plan to keep at it as long as I live on this blue planet. Board surfing might not be realistic at 80, but bodysurfing is—gentle enough to sustain, yet challenging enough to keep me fit.
Fortunately, we have plenty of octogenarian bodysurfers to draw inspiration from.
Meet the Octogenarian Bodysurfers
Someone who is 80 today was born in 1945, the same year bodysurfers began adopting swim fins. The post-war economic boom in the United States drove the development of new materials and technologies—such as rubber fins, wetsuits, composite surfboards—which fueled rapid growth in both surfing and bodysurfing.
Surfers spawned from this era were accomplished bodysurfers and strong swimmers, as surfboard leashes had not yet been invented. Bud Browne, nicknamed ‘Barracuda’ for his in-water prowess, was a renowned surf filmmaker and lifelong bodysurfer who lived to the impressive age of 96. While Ron Drummond, author of the The Art of Wave Riding, continued to swim, canoe, and bodysurf into his mid-80s.
Between 1954 and 1958, Richard “Buffalo” Keaulana won the bodysurfing contest at the Makaha International Surfing Championships four times. Buffalo, one of the greatest bodysurfers of all time, recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
The point isn’t that bodysurfing guarantees longevity, but that many who devote their lives to the pursuit keep riding waves well into old age. Here are three more examples of noteworthy octogenarian bodysurfers:
Carol Schuldt
I first read about Carol Schuldt in a 2009 Surfer’s Journal article titled “Her Regency,” by Jaimal Yogis—one of my favorite surf writers.
The article profiles Schuldt, known as the ‘Queen of Ocean Beach’ in San Francisco—a 75-year-old woman (at the time of publication) who bodysurfs daily without a wetsuit, often completely naked, in 50°F (10°C) water.
Despite surviving cancer and hip surgery, Schuldt bikes miles to the beach and hikes down sand dunes to access her favorite spot for bodysurfing.
We learn that Carol has been bodysurfing since the 1940s, alongside legends like Jack O’Neill, who began selling wetsuits around 1952. “Over the last 65-odd years she has likely logged more time in San Francisco’s unruly surf than anyone else living,” writes Yogis.
For Carol, bodysurfing is both physical pursuit and spiritual practice: “The environment you spend time in eventually becomes who you are,” she says. “It’s not about getting better. It’s about the feeling you get in the water. I come out of the water and I’m just a brand new person.”
Carol would continue to bodysurf au naturel at Ocean Beach well into old age, and was even featured in a Bahamas music video bodysurfing naked at age 82.
Fred Wilkens
Like Carol Schuldt, Fred Wilkens (aka Zuma Fred) has been swimming in the ocean for over 70 years, and at age 81, he still hits the water for a bodysurf nearly every day.
“I don’t know what it was,” says Fred about his bodysurfing habit. “I guess something hit me in the brain that this was good. I was basically addicted.”
Zuma Fred is known for bodysurfing without a wetsuit or fins, perhaps an ode to the era he grew up in. Or maybe he just prefers the simplicity of riding waves without equipment.
“Most of my surfing through the years has been bodysurfing. And now that I’m getting older and everything, I know it’s important to keep active physically. As long as I can, I plan to continue.”
Peter Connolly
Fringe Magazine recently profiled 81-year-old Peter Connolly in an article titled “Memoirs of a Lifelong Bodysurfer,” by Ollie Ross McDonald.
Connolly is a longtime UK bodysurfer who still swims three miles each week and continues to compete in bodysurfing events. He began riding waves as a teenager, and has spent a lifetime immersed in the ocean.
“Bodysurfing is the gift that keeps on giving,” Connolly says. “It’s a unique and visceral experience that has helped enormously to develop and enrich my life, both physically and mentally, in so many ways.”
For Connolly, bodysurfing is both a passion and a path to wellbeing. “It has been a focus for swimming and keeping myself fit—essential for riding the waves. And, as if this isn’t enough, bodysurfing enables the release of endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. It promotes a sense of cheerfulness, wellbeing, and even love, helping us bond emotionally and trust each other.”
Connolly leaves readers with one simple piece of advice: “Do not pass through life without learning to bodysurf.”
