Finding where you belong is often tricky, especially as you age and the options become more limited. However, did you ever think that a 70-year-old woman could go surfing and find her home? This is the story of Marg, who, although she only discovered surfing late in life, felt at home and found where she belonged.
Who is Marg?
Margaret Cummins, or Marg, was an older woman who reportedly caught her first wave at 70 on Australia’s Gold Coast. Her story became known as one of the few who decided to take a different approach to life, especially in their later years.
Marg is one of the women in the documentary Taking Off: Tales of Older Women Who Surf, which focused on women who decided to take up surfing later in life. Her story shows that just because someone is older doesn’t mean they can’t learn something new. While surfing is already demanding for those younger, she took the time and effort to learn.
Marg took months to learn to surf
It’s important to note that surfing is a complicated sport or activity. Although it might look as simple as standing on a board and balancing on the water, a lot goes into balance, timing, and position. Its difficulty resulted in Marg taking months to learn how to stand up and ride her first “party wave.”
Even for younger people, learning to surf is already very difficult, with many people giving up after just a few tries. The difficulty can be amplified significantly for older people if they become less mobile as they get older. Marg took this as a challenge, and although failing and trying again took her a while, she was still able do it.
Why is surfing so tricky?
The difficulty of surfing isn’t just in riding the wave; it’s also in catching one, which is where many people fail. To catch a wave, the person must be at least a sufficient swimmer and be able to get out into the water where there’s enough distance to surf. After that, the surfer would have to test out the waves and see which one has the perfect timing for their location.
When they catch a wave, they must pedal with it, riding it until they can stand. If the surfer fails to do this, they go back into the water and have to swim out further once again. This is often where many people give up since to catch a wave, they would have to go through the difficulty of swimming out into the ocean.
What made Marg choose surfing
Marg recently said she still can’t forget the first time she was on a wave. During that time, she looked at her friend and shouted: “Look at us!” Until this day, she still remembers the feeling of catching that first wave. The difficulty of catching a wave and the sudden serenity of catching one were dear to her as she decided to surf more.
Marg also revealed that she never had the opportunity to surf when she was younger and was discouraged. She shares how surfing has no longer made her invisible as an older woman and that she feels a sense of community and belonging with her surfing group.
How surfing might help others
Surfing is a literal activity for the concept of battling your greatest enemy. The waves represent your adversity, while riding them represents the reward. Surfing can be a rewarding experience for anyone, no matter what age. Although Marg represents an exception of older people still able to do physically demanding activities, she shows that it is still possible no matter how old you are.
See Marg in action in Taking Off: Tales of Older Women Who Surf, a documentary by filmmakers Jennifer Jefferies and Alice MacKinnon that focuses on surfing women aged 59 to 72 who come from different backgrounds, but all share the love of surfing.
