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Melanie Bartels: Rising To The Top
By Linda Dela Cruz
Champion surfer Melanie Bartels can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, raise her 4 year-old son, Ezekiel, and complete a backside aerial move -- all in a days work.
The Waianae grad jet sets from the Big Island to Lake Tahoe and to Fiji during the time Makai caught up with this professional surfer and recreational bodyboarder. Her fun-filled and demanding schedule for this month includes WQS contests in Peru, and more contests down under in Australia.
Ever since Bartels was a tiny tot, her parents, Ray and Lucia Bartels took the family to the beach. She and her two older brothers, Stephen and Jason, learned to bodyboard and surf. They entered keiki contests and soon Bartels was sponsored in contests. And the rest as they say is history.
Bartels became a teen water phenom. She placed first place girl’s state champion from 1996 -1999 in the HASA. She was the 1996 NSSA Women’s Open Champion, and the 1997 NSSA Women’s Bodyboard Champion, and first place winner for the NSSA Women’s Explorer Championships from 1997-2000. And her list of accomplishments doesn’t stop there. She was the first place winner at the WQS Fosters Cup in Lower Trestles, California in 2002. She was honored at the SIMA’s Waterman’s Ball as the Surfing America Pro Tour 2003 Champion.
Makai Ocean Lifestyle Magazine had the awesome opportunity to catch up with Bartels, and here's what we talked about!
Makai: What's new that's coming up for you this year?
Melanie: I just returned from my first snowboarding trip. I went to Lake Tahoe for a week. It was fun, but painful, because I fell a lot. I'm leaving for Fiji tonight. I'm going there for a surf trip with some friends for a week because we're filming for an up coming surf video. After that, it's going to be contest after contest (WQS and WCT ASP contests).
Makai: What does your schedule look like this month of February? What surfing events are you looking forward to?
Melanie: I'll have a week break to relax at home after I return from Fiji. Then it'll be Peru in February for a 5 Star WQS contest. After that, I'll be relaxing at home for another couple of weeks to Oz I go. There's going to be several Australian contests that I need to compete in.
Makai: What are you doing for Valentine's Day?
Melanie: I haven't thought about it yet but hopefully something fun like barbequing. Makai: You were featured the Girls Surf Addiction video last year. What's it like to be featured in the video?
Melanie: It's a pretty good feeling! That was my first surf video that I was featured in as one of the main surfers. Usually I was just "props" in the background.
Makai: Are you still wearing hats while surfing? What do you like about
wearing hats in the water? What was the very first hat you wore surfing?
Melanie: I have no idea what my first hat was or even looked like. It was awhile ago. But yeah, I still wear them. It’s automatic already. I get less burnt from the sun and it kind of blocks people out of my surrounding so it’s like it’s just me and the ocean.
Makai: What surfing spots across the globe do you love?
Melanie: Makaha and V-Land in Hawaii, Snapper Rocks and Bells Beach in Australia, Lower Trestles in California, Sumatra Indonesia
Makai: What are some surfing spots you haven't been to that you'd love to go to?
Melanie: Bali, Samoa, The Box, Jamaica, and anywhere with waves
Makai: How many surfboards do you have? What kind are they and which ones do you use the most?
Melanie: My board shaper is Matt Kinoshita (Kazuma Surfboards). I don't really know how many boards I have (haven't counted them) but I have enough good ones to last the year. I normally ride a 5'9" shortboard. I like riding my 6'0" too as it has drive and is loose, as well.
Makai: How much do you love surfing? Explain the feeling.
Melanie: I love surfing. When I'm surfing I feel like I'm flying over the water. It’s almost like I'm a graceful being who is one with the wave. I almost feel like an artist whose drawing pictures with my surfboard. Is that too weird or what?
Makai: How have your parents influenced your surfing career?
Melanie: Growing up my family always spent weekends at the beach. We had a lot of fun. My dad surfed and my mom kept an eye on us on the beach. It was natural for us to take to the water. We progressed from playing in the water, to playing on the bodyboard, then the longboard and shortboard. My two older brothers, Stephen and Jason, enjoyed it so much then we eventually started entering amateur contests. My brothers did the bodyboard divisions. I did the bodyboard and shortboard divisions. My parents supported us when we did all the contests. They got us up early in the morning, drove us to the contests, fed us, cheered us on, etc. Those were the days! My parents still do a lot for me. They're there when I need help.
Makai: Who are some of your surfing role models?
Melanie: Rell Sunn, Kelly Slater, Lisa Andersen, Brian Keaulana, Shane O, Rochelle Ballard, Bruce and Andy Irons, ALL the Hawaiians, all my friends and family.
Makai: Who would you like to meet in the world that you haven't yet?
Melanie: Sade (she's one of my favorite singers), Xhibit (cause he looks like a cool guy), Justin Timberlake (he's hot). I'd like to meet Linda Fisher (from Caloundra, Australia).
Makai: What are your other favorite sports?
Melanie: Other than surfing, I love to bodyboard.
Makai: Do you take your son surfing with you? Will you encourage him to surf?
Melanie: I take him to the beach but haven't pushed him into surfing, etc. I leave it up to him to decide if he wants to bodyboard, surf, bodysurf, not surf, or just build sandcastles. I don't want to push him into doing anything (surfing, etc) if he doesn't want to do it.
Makai: What else would you like to share with Makai readers about yourself?
Melanie: I love my son Ezekiel (Kalanikukui). He's now 4 years old and attending a Hawaiian immersion preschool (Punana Leo in Waianae). I love the fact that he's learning to speak Hawaiian. Whatever he's learning in school at the time you'll find him singing or chanting at home. His kumu are all great with the keiki. We've been fortunate that the preschools that he's attended have been great with children.
