I interviewed side-stepping queen Victoria Vergara for SurfGirl Magazine competition side at the Vans Duct Tape Invitational in Portugal. Check out my piece below!

French-native (by way of Reunion Island) lady slider Victoria Vergara’s instantly recognizable elegance on the waves, paired with one of the sunniest dispositions in pro-surfing, has long been captivating audiences world-wide. We were stoked to sit down with pro-surfer and model Victoria at the recent Portuguese leg of the Vans Duct Tape Invitational in between heats, talkin’ Royale’s with Cheese, why putting a smile on your face is the best thing you can do for your surfing, and what’s coming up next for the cross-stepping Queen.

Shaking out her wet curls with a huge smile warming her face, lady-logger and model Victoria Vergara is clearly stoked beach-side at the Vans Duct Tape Invitational in Ericeira, Portugal. Sharing the roster with a who’s-who of women’s pro-longboarding including the likes of former and likely next World Champion Honolua Blomfield and Chloe Calmon, and up and coming style renegades Karina Rozunko and Ivy Thomas, Victoria admits it’s “an honour to be invited here” personally by Joel Tudor, aka, the grand-daddy of longboarding. “We’re not that many, 16 girls, and we have so many girls out there that surf, so when you get an invitation, you’re already stoked!”.

Coupled with the fact that this leg of the Duct Tape is a short jaunt from Victoria’s home in Hossegor, France, and is too, the first European Duct Tape leg including women on the roster (with an equal prize purse), it’s understandable that Victoria is amped. She adds with a smile “it’s always a pleasure to do this contest, I’m stoked! We’re like a big family too, we’re just here having fun, good times, sharing waves.”.

Somehow finding time in her busy schedule, which has already included trips to Indonesia and Mexico this year, Victoria will be heading home post-Duct Tape for a brief stop-over at her Hossegor base. Does she dig living at her new mainland home? “It’s fun! Compared to where I grew up in Reunion Island, Hossegor is definitely different. It took me some time to get used to the winter and not living in the island vibe. But I have a great group of friends, I just bought my new place as well, my boyfriend lives there too. I am actually enjoying being in Hossegor and I miss being home. It’s been firing lately, so I’m like, FOMO!”.

Her experience surfing variable waves through her many travels, changing up between longboards, twin fins and short boards, has clearly contributed to Victoria’s instantly recognizable and adaptive style on the water. How would she define her style? “It’s a classic style. It’s been a long time that I haven’t worn a leash on a long board, I ride single fin. I did a lot of dancing when I was younger, so I always keep in mind it’s like dancing on the waves…My style is trying to be elegant and graceful, stylish…I’m mostly having fun all the time when I’m in the water, just stoked to be surfing!”.

For girls wanting to progress their surfing, we can all attest it can be hard and comes with its challenges. Exclaiming “don’t forget to have fun, surfing is tough!”, Victoria suggests

“try to have fun, do new stuff, completely crazy stuff maybe, and maybe it’ll work. It might sound stupid, but one of my coaches was telling me, if you catch a wave and actually start smiling, it will change completely change your mood on the wave. So, smile! And realise how lucky we are to be in the ocean. It works for everything! Just put a smile on your face, it’ll change your mood!”.

This is clearly a mind-set Victoria adheres too, her joy in playing in the ocean is unmistakable, palpable in her many edits. With travel such an intrinsic part of her surfing career, what would she say the best thing about travelling is? “The best thing about traveling is that you’re meeting so many new people, discovering so many new foods, and shops. It’s always exploration, which I love”. And the worst? “The worst will be all the airports and planes, the fact that I’m not seeing my family or friends or boyfriend that much. I’m not home for a long time, and I’ll stay so jet-lagged sometimes. But every single place is so different, and I’m just super lucky to be doing what I’m doing. I’ve never been to places where I’m like ugh, I really want to go home. I just enjoy, visit new things, discover a culture that’s not yours, make new friends, it's good!”.

Maintaining a fitness regime can equally be tricky whilst on the road, and Victoria admits “it’s so hard to have a routine when you travel”. Her favourite ways to stay fit and heathy include “trying to surf as much as possible. If I have a chance to just jump in the water, I’ll take it! I do a lot of Pilates and boxing as well, but I’m very lucky that surfing is very complimentary to a good workout”. A healthy, nutritious diet for athletes is critical, and Victoria laughs as she tells us “I’m a breakfast person, I could never skip breakfast! I’m a beast with no energy! Don’t starve yourself at all. It won’t make you pretty, happy, it won’t give you energy. Eat whatever you want to eat and with moderation if you want to be careful… some cheat meals once a while is good too!” And what would her cheat meal be? “A McDonalds! A Royale with Cheese and French fries is really good!”.

With a flourishing career in both surfing and modelling, Victoria’s success has firmly fixed her in the public eye. With 167,000 Instagram followers, the double-edged sword of a large audience can sometimes mean having to manage both the positive and negative. How does Victoria handle any negativity across social media? Explaining that her mother once imparted her favourite ever piece of advice, so much so that it forms the biography of her Instagram, handle: “If they don’t know you personally, don’t take it personally” is something Victoria keeps at the front of her mind, and sage words that clearly have positive impact on her and her career. Her dream career project would be “to start my brand. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. I have so much going on so it’s pretty hard to put it together now, but in a couple of years, I want to do something great…the main goal in my mind right now is using an environmental way to create something cool in fashion.”.

With positive stoke, balance, and a sense of play tantamount to Victoria’s approach to life, it’s no surprise that when asked to share a song that would describe her, she laughs as she tells us “today? Happy from Pharrell!” and finally, that if she had to choose one thing she loves, it would be “obviously my boyfriend, just because he’s been so supportive and it’s not easy to have a relationship when you travel so much, so him of course, then I’ll go with avocado!”.