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Crystal Dzigas
By Shige Mistu
The waves are building, and the line-up is bustling with activity as everyone is trying to get their share of the early season swell on the North Shore. Moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, professionals and kid surfers of all ages are circulating.
Quietly, a beautiful local girl, slips out into position, she exchanges
greetings and smiles as a set approaches.
The crowd is on the move, as she selects the wave to get her glide on, and with a little bit of jockeying for position, she's up and cross steps right to the nose of her long board, curls five toes over the nose
and smoothly speeds through the sections as effortless as the Iwa bird surfs in the wind.
She cuts back with power and style, then completes the wave gracefully, and heads back out for another--- this is just another typical wave for surfer Crystal Dzigas. From consistent magazine coverage to contest appearances around the globe, Crystal is quickly becoming one of the most visible women surfers in and out of the industry.
Crystal Dzigas (pronounced zee-guess) is as stoked a surfer as you will find anywhere with roots deep in Hawaii. She was born in Honolulu in 1983.. Growing up in Hawaii, she remembers the joys of cruising with her family to the ocean. “ When I was about 6-years old, my Dad had Wednesdays off, so my Mom would stay home from work. They would keep me home from school, and we would all go driving around the island with fishing poles and swimsuits, when we found a nice beach with no one around, we'd go for a swim or take and poles out and try out luck at fishing. Life seemed so simple.”
Attending Kamehameha, she was active in Track and Soccer. She discovered riding waves when her Dad bought her a body board for her 13 th birthday.
She recalled. “ That summer I rode it every single day at Ala Moana (beach).” Surfing and standing up started a year later. She rented a board from the beach boys in Waikiki.
“I stood up for a little while on my first wave, and I was instantly hooked!” That's all it took!
Surfing then became a big part of Crystal's life, and the lure to competition was inevitable. Dzigas won the State titles in Girls' Longboarding in 2000 and 2001. After high school, she went on to receive her
Bachelor's degree in Business at the Hawaii Pacific University.
Her surfing has always been a beautiful combination of grace, power and style which netted her top 5 results around the world. She won the 2007 Pro division of China Uemura's Women's Surfing Classic at Queens in Waikiki. Her ability to read waves and conditions, allow her to excel in surfing Professional Women's Longboard events and select short boarding
events. “Surfing is fun, if I get a little burnt out on it, I'll take a break from surfing, but after a few days, I get super psyched on it again. A lot of times, if I get bored, I'll just take out a different
board. I have a really diverse quiver, including many old school boards like a 5'5” twin fin and a 9'3” single fin, and various shortboards. I also do stand-up paddle. Surfing for me is never the same, and it never really gets monotonous for me.,” says Crystal.
She has a lifestyle that many people dream of---her beautiful smile and surfing abilities have been recognized by big companies like Roxy who sponsor her. Danielle Beck of Roxy noted, “ We love Crystal!
She surfs so well, and we are looking forward to working with her more in the future. She's great for Roxy, not just in surf contests, but in other projects as well.” As a Rody girl and surfing professional,
Crystal gets to further her passion to surf and travel which have opened many doors for her career.
Surfing is s fitness oriented lifestyle, and as Crystal pointed out, another aspect of it is Stand-Up-Paddling (SUP). She recently started SUP surfing and is now sponsored by Paddle Surf Hawaii. “SUP is an
amazing workout for the entire body. It works every muscle from your arms down to your toes, all at the same time. It's a tough workout, but, if you paddle in and around Waimea Bay or Kahana Bay, it can be very
relaxing at the same time. I try to go as much as possible.”
Paddle Surf Hawaii owner Blane Chambers says, “Crystal is a pleasure to have riding our boards. We're very fortunate to have her. We are working with her in and out of the surf industry. She has great
appeal and is exactly what our company was looking for in a healthy positive role model for the girls and women in our sport. We're promoting fitness and Crystal is the complete package.”
The stand-up paddle craze has begun, which some people call, the “perfect workout”.
Crystal has had the pleasure of meeting with someone whom she considers very special -- WQS surfer Anthony Walsh. You may have seen him charging big barrels on the North Shore in Tahiti. A very talented surfer, he can really “rip”. “I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend Anthony. He's from Australia, so we spend part of the year there and part here in Hawaii, “ she said.
When home in Hawaii, Crystal's schedule is relaxed. “When I'm home, I like hanging out by myself and doing my own thing. I usually schedule everything around surfing. I get up before the sun comes up, and
get out before it gets too crowded. If the waves are good, I surf for a few hours. The, I'll go and have lunch and check the surf again---if it's good, Ill go for another surf, but if not, I'll go home or to the mall. My life isn't always spectacular. It sounds really boring on paper, but I love these kinds of days.” Those boring days beats grinding out hours behind a desk and wishing you could be out surfing. If the waves are down, you may see Crystal getting a workout on her Stand Up Paddle board, or you may see her snapping a tight turn under the lip on a short board, or hanging ten on her long board. With a busy schedule, she'll be off to Australia, France or California for a professional contest. It's the dream lifestyle that keeps it fun. Crystal is quick to add, “Thanks to my family and friends for believing in me, and supporting me. A big mahalo to Roxy for the chance to live the dream, to DaKine, Future Fins, Gavin Hasegawa, Mitsu Matsushita and Blane Chambers for helping me out…I really, really appreciate it!”