In our new feature with incredible water women from around the world, we chat to Glennel Jordan, an accomplished water sports athlete who made it her goal to wingsurf right through her pregnancy… Read the incredible story now!

Glennel Jordan is a financial planner by day & all-round waterwoman by night. She has recently been a massive source of inspiration to women around the world as she wing foiled & tow surf foiled her way through pregnancy. Glennel even wing foiled the day before she gave birth!

Hi Glennel. Firstly, massive congratulations on the birth of baby Raven. Could you start by telling us a little bit about your watersports background and how you got into foiling & winging?

Thank you! Raven is a blessing in my life!

I’ve been surfing most of my life and have been living on the North Shore of Oahu for almost 20 years now, partaking in basically every type of surf sport available from shortboard, kitesurfing, SUP, big waves, tow-ins. Basically, any type of surfing that I can experience, I will do. When we first started getting a glimpse of foiling about 3-4 years ago, my husband being the nerd he is, was instantly all, “we need to get a foil”. 

I’ll admit I was a sceptic at first, but pretty quickly welcomed the challenge after getting our first foil. It was a fun alternative to longboarding in the summer when the swells get pretty small here. Because I had the background in kitesurfing, when I learned about the wing I quickly saw the advantage to learning yet another sport. Having the wing is like having your own jet-ski, just like kitesurfing is like tow surfing.

Hawaii has many windy days, so it seemed a no brainer that I had to adopt the wing into my quiver. My husband was a much bigger wing sceptic than I was, but currently, he’s madly obsessed with the sport and can hardly go a day without winging, LOL.

When my wife was pregnant, she had to stop kitesurfing at about 20 weeks as the harness just didn’t feel comfortable or safe. The beauty of wing foiling & tow foiling is that you don’t need a harness. Did you know from early on in pregnancy that you would keep foiling for so long?

I actually had a handful of friends who I told that I wouldn’t have to stop foiling since I had the wing. Not many people believed me, including my husband; in my mind, it made so much sense. I start on my knees then go up to my feet, thus never needing to be on my stomach. The more I winged throughout my pregnancy, the more I realised I would be able to keep doing it no matter how big I got.

Once I was on my feet, I was basically just standing there and leaning back a little. When the waves got a bit big, I became extra careful as I didn’t want to fall as I was going down a big face with a lot of speed. I loved pushing the limits of what was possible but, at the same time, being extremely cautious.

Did you, at any point, feel as though you were taking any risks or did you always feel in your comfort zone?

Some would think I was being reckless, but in fact, I was so aware of my body and capabilities that I would make extra sure I would not put myself in a situation that put baby or me in harm. I never felt that I put either of us at risk. In fact, by continuing to get in the water day after day, it kept me strong so that I never felt different.

My goal was to adapt to my changing body, and the only way to do that was to keep going so that I could adjust to the changes daily. I also fell off foil less than I usually do because I was hyper-aware of not falling. When I did fall, I learned how to fall in a safe, low-impact manner.

What equipment are you using & what size is your surf foiling & wing foiling gear? Did this change during pregnancy?

I use F-ONE wings, I have almost all sizes, but the more pregnant I got, the lazier I got, so I was using the 5m more and more. I also got heavier, thus needing a bigger wing! For foils, I ride Unifoil. I used to wing with a small surf foil called the Vortex 150, but as I got bigger and had less energy, I started increasing my foil size and went to a larger high aspect wing, the Hyper 190.

What I liked about the high aspect while being pregnant was that it would stay up on foil for me without too much effort on my part when the wind got funky. My goal was basically to maximise my fun level with as little effort on my part as possible!

What do you think will be Raven’s first water-based activity?

Well, it all comes back to the roots of surfing, so I will definitely take her on her longboard as her first ocean activity when it’s safe to do so. I’m now looking at videos of friends teaching their kids how to surf, taking notes!

We’re very jealous of where you live. What are your favourite spots & conditions in Hawaii?

You know, before foiling, I could easily say that Sunset Beach is my favourite wave. But with foiling and winging, one of the best parts of these sports is that the whole island opened up! Every season opens up another side of the island that you can foil and wing when the wind gets good. I love that I can now explore breaks that are completely empty and that no surfer would even consider and have the time of my life.

My absolute favourite for winging would be anywhere on the North Shore when we get more north winds because then the whole coast opens up. To be able to wing anywhere on the North Shore is such a treat!

What practical/mindset advice would you give other women who want to continue their water sports through pregnancy?

I would like to remind women that being pregnant is not a disability! Your body will change over the next 9 months, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t a strong, capable women during your pregnancy. Just think back to humans before modern civilisation; women certainly didn’t stop activity when they got pregnant then.

For me, the goal was to get in the water almost every day or as much as possible, no matter what. I had many days where I felt awful, with no energy, but if you push yourself to keep doing what you love, then you will be able to adjust to your changing body slowly. And most importantly, be an inspiration to your future children!

You can follow Glennel on Instagram here - @ocean_baby

Videos

Ocean Baby Unifoil Hawaii Foil Surfing
By Jack Galloway

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