Surfing at 90 Years Old: The Story of Nancy Meherne

Surfeando a los 90 años. La historia de Nancy Meherne
Surfeando a los 90 años. La historia de Nancy Meherne
Surfeando a los 90 años. La historia de Nancy Meherne
Surfeando a los 90 años. La historia de Nancy Meherne
There are stories that motivate us to pursue what we love, no matter what. Stories that lead you to chase your dreams, no matter your age.
 
Today, we want to share with you the story of Nancy Meherne, a woman born in 1929 in Wellington, New Zealand, who, despite her age, never stopped doing what she was passionate about: surfing.

She lived a very peaceful life by the sea, with her family. One of her great passions was surfing. In fact, she surfed until she was 93 years old. Her life motto was always "to live for and by the sea".
 
Meherne was a well-known music teacher at Sumner School, where she taught harmonica and xylophone classes until the 1990s when she retired. But she was even more known at Sumner Beach, where she surfed whenever she could. She would seize any opportunity to grab her bike and head to the beach to surf with her board, which she bought in the 1970s and which accompanied her until her last wave.
 
She was always a very adventurous woman. At just 20 years old, she left her country to study and work in England, where she would spend weekends exploring the country, hitchhiking, sleeping on train platforms, and staying in youth hostels.
 
Her spirit led her to travel through countries like India, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. But she returned to her New Zealand, where she started a family with her husband, Doug.
 
The first time Meherne saw the ocean, she was amazed. She didn't start surfing until she was 40 when she asked her son to lend her his board. In an interview with The Guardian, Nancy confessed that she never learned to stand up on the board, but she loved getting on the board and riding the waves.
 
Nancy Meherne passed away in July 2022, surrounded by her family. In her town, she will always be remembered as "the legend of Sumner".