Indonesian surf star Rio Waida: From being bullied to being on top
He’s fast, powerful and has a knack for submitting the waves to his command but life on a board hasn’t always been easy for the 2023 World Surf League Championship Tour rookie. Did you know that Rio used to be scared of the ocean?
Surfing
It’s hard to believe that Rio Waida was once afraid of the open sea.
The way the 23-year-old Indonesian currently carves up the waves on the World Surf League 2023 Championship Tour, enough to make it past the mid-season cut line and rank above Olympic silver medallist Kanoa Igarashi and surfing legend Kelly Slater, it seems almost inconceivable that he didn’t immediately love the sport his parents first introduced him to.
“I didn’t like it at first,” Waida confessed with a grin in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “I was scared of the ocean.”
Sitting on the sun glazed, wave-rich beaches of Bali, Waida’s mother and father would take turns entertaining their two young sons so they could each ride the waters. It was in that idyll that they would introduce Waida to surfing despite his initial reservations.
Their influence on the Tokyo 2020 Olympian, not just in offering him a start on the board but in supporting him through his rise, is apparent when he talks about the shift he made from casual surfer to committed.
“It started with my parents," Waida explained. "They are hard workers. They don’t like doing 50, 50. They either do things 100 per cent or don’t do it.
“I don’t remember, but my mom told me that I said I wanted to become a world champion and that’s probably why my mom pushed me really hard. She would come to the beach with me all day and she would give me advice on what I would have to do. She’s not a surfer, but she knows my weaknesses.
“Because of her and my dad, this is who I am today.”
Rio Waida: Growing up
It wasn’t only on the waves that Waida found himself leaning on his parents growing up.
A medical condition, which required the prodigy to be treated with growth hormones, posed its own set of challenges for the young surfer in his formative years. He found himself being targeted at school because of size.
“I was always the shortest kid when I was in class,” Waida said. “I was always getting bullied. And then, even outside of school, when I went to restaurants or the beach, people would ask me what grade I was in and I would say, ‘Oh I’m in this grade.’ And they would say, ‘Oh, you don’t seem that old?’ I think it hurt my mom.”
Over time, with medication, Waida grew and so did his resolve to prove to those that had doubted him that he could become one of the greatest surfers the island nation had ever seen.
"I focused on myself and what I wanted to be," he said. "If I want to become a professional surfer, I would just focus on becoming a professional surfer. Or if you want to become a doctor, just focus on that and study more to become a doctor.
"You don’t have to hear things from someone else. It’s about yourself. And if you have a good life, or a happy life, your dreams come true. That’s what I’ve been focusing on. Don’t think about anything else, just on myself. I try to get better every day - that’s it.”
Even today, the bullies that once taunted Waida still try to contact him.
“Now they say, ‘Oh congrats with your life and stuff’," the Indonesian said.
But these words, like they did back then, have little sway on the boy who would go on to be a part of Olympic history.
Rio Waida: Waving the flag at Tokyo 2020
Reflecting back on Tokyo 2020, where Waida, alongside 39 others, became the first crop of surfers to ever compete in an Olympic Games, it is at once obvious that the Olympics have transformed his life.
From getting to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony to rubbing shoulders with the best athletes from across the sporting disciplines the surfer, who had once known very little about the Olympics, found himself completely changed by them:
“The Olympics were a big thing for me. I didn’t really look at the Olympics before, but when they announced surfing would be in it I started to watch Usain Bolt, then the swimmer Michael Phelps. And then I saw how they’re the best and I was like, 'Oh, I want to be like that'. I want to get a medal.
“I met a lot of athletes, not only surfers, but from other sports. I got to know the other athletes from Indonesia. They got a gold in the badminton and that inspired me. I realised I want to be like them and I’m hungrier.
“I realised it’s not easy to be out there and I was very grateful to get the chance to be a flagbearer. It was really cool. I almost cried while I was walking." - Rio Waida on the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony
“It’s changed my life. It showed me how to be the best athlete and how it’s not easy to get that medal. Since then, I’ve just been working on myself and I want to go again at Paris 2024 - that’s my dream again. I just want to be the best.”
Rio Waida's historic first on World Championships Tour
With a newfound appreciation for what it takes to get Olympic gold Waida committed himself to becoming a master of his craft.
And the results speak for themselves.
Thanks to his consistent form and back-to-back wins at the Sydney Surf Pro and Ballito Pro in 2022, Waida became the first Indonesian and first Asia-born surfer to qualify for the World Championship Tour.
In his rookie season so far he finished fifth in the Portugal Pro, beating world champion John John Florence in the heats, and is currently ranked 19th in the world.
“I’ve always believed that I had the skills to be on top. It was more mental – like how to prepare, and how to stay fit, stay healthy,” Waida said about his ascent through the ranks.
He honed those important details after studying some of the best in the game in previous years:
“After the Olympics I went to Mexico, where I got to compete in the world tour and then I got to spend time with the best surfers. I looked at them and what they do, and I learned," Waida said.
“I got to spend time with Kanoa Igarashi, he's a silver medallist, I learnt a lot from him. He didn't teach me a lot but just from seeing him I learned a lot of stuff. How he's prepared and how he is thinking, what he eats. I just took to those things, and I tried do that.”
Making the World Championship Tour was always the goal but even with all the adjustments and the additional training Waida was still taken aback that he managed to turn his dream into reality. It has, rather ominously for the rest of surfing's elite, reinforced his self-belief.
“I knew one day it was going to happen, but it happened very quickly. I was super surprised," he said.
“[At Manly] I thought I was lucky. And then the next event in Ballito I won again. Then I was like, 'Oh, it's working'. Training and stuff, how I prepare. It's all about preparation. If I'm ready, everything is created in my mind. My body is healthy, no injuries, then I'm always good to go.”
Rio Waida: Breaking waves for Indonesia
Waida's qualification and success on the World Championships Tour - he is currently the highest-ranked athlete from Asia - is also opening the door for other surfers in Indonesia.
There is plenty of local talent on the island famous for its iconic surf spots, but due to the high costs of competing and a lack of funding, most give up on their dreams of going pro.
Waida, for example, has had to rely on the money his father earns as a construction worker in Japan to train and travel to competitions. That is starting to change due to Waida's recent success, and other surfers could benefit too.
With his debut on the World Championship Tour Waida has become one of the most successful athletes in the country of 300 million. The national government has taken note and is looking at ways of developing the sport.
"They are finally looking at surfing and what it brings to Indonesia," Waida told Tracks magazine ahead of the 2023 season. "We do have the best waves in the world and more of them than anywhere in the world. And I am getting some financial help from the government. I get a small salary and money for boards, equipment, and travel and best of all money for training. I hope it grows for the future for me and whoever is next up the line.
"We need to break that barrier of not having Indonesians on tour permanently. We need to become permanent. Like the Aussies or the Brazilians. I think it is our time to join up. Indonesians have a reputation for being lazy or not wanting to leave our perfect waves. The next generation and I are going to stop that reputation."
Rio Waida's big dream: A medal for his country
Surfing, for its second appearance at the Games, will be held in Tahiti.
A renowned surfers' paradise, in a way, it is the perfect setting for one so hungry to realise his ambitions.
Crystal blue waters, the iconic Teahupo'o wave and the very best surfers in the world all gathered in one spot: clinching an Olympic gold there would mean everything to Waida who has already overcome significant obstacles in his history-making career.
"My dream of course is to get the medal," he said. "I have so many people that are supporting me and I just want to make them (proud). That's what I want to do. Bringing the medal to Indonesia? That's what I want to do."