California Teen's Been Surfing Every Day Since 2011
Meg Roh won't stop surfing until she reaches her 1,500 days-in-a-row goal.
— -- This surfer girl means business.
Meg Roh may only be 16, but that hasn’t stopped the California teen from setting a gnarly goal for herself. She’s been surfing every single day since June 1, 2011, and won’t stop until she reaches 1,500 days in a row—which is coming up in early July.
"I’m super excited about it,” Roh, of Dana Point, California, told ABC News. “I never thought I’d get this far. It’s just crazy.”
The high school sophomore surfs every day, rain or shine, sick or well, whether she’s in California or traveling abroad near a coast, no matter what.
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"Surfing actually makes feel better when I’m sick sometimes,” she said. “It’s healing.”
Roh has maintained a 4.3 GPA in school while juggling her surfing because “School always comes before surfing for me,” she explained.
"I’ll bring my homework to the beach a lot. It’s a nice break in between studying,” she added.
“She’s definitely disciplined,” Roh’s mom, Sue Hann, said of her determined daughter. “That’s a trait she has in her. She sets her mind to something and that’s what she’s going to do.”
The surfing bug is something she picked up from her parents, both surfers themselves, who began teaching her the skill when she was just 4-years-old.
“I started surfing when I went on a trip to Costa Rica with a bunch of moms when I was 40 and we said, ‘When we come back, let’s teach our kids to surf,” Hann recalled. “My daughter Meg was 4 and there’s where it all started.”
The youngster gave up playing soccer at the age of 12 “and decided this is what she wanted to do,” and hasn’t looked back since.
"Surfing for me is fun. I love it a lot,” said Roh, who catches at least five waves a day. “My motivation is just being in the water. Once I’m there it’s nice. If I’m having a bad day it makes it good.”
Her time in the water, she said, “is just like brushing my teeth. It’s just something I do every day.”
Hann isn’t quite sure her daughter will be able to stop surfing once she hits her goal in July.
“We’ll see what happens. I have a feeling she’ll go one more year,” she said. “But living here in California, to stop in July is just crazy.”
The all-A’s student is already planning to attend a “college by the ocean,” mentioning UC San Diego or UC Santa Barbara as top contenders, but since she’s already accomplished so much in her young life-- with a sponsorship from Roxy and being featured in a surfing documentary called “The Search for Freedom”-- it’s safe to say it will be smooth sailing for her future.
“Never give up on your dreams,” said Roh. “Do what makes you happy every day."