JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Two of the best surfers in the United States are from the First Coast and they earned their spot on The Ultimate Surfer – a reality TV surf competition that premiered on ABC 25 Monday night.
First Coast News talked exclusively to Jacksonville Beach surf pros Kayla Durden and Austin Clouse ahead of the premiere.
“My dream was to always have my name in that conversation – of I want to be top tier," Durden said. "I want people to know who I am in the surfing world.“
But, Durden never would imagine her dream would take her to California to compete on The Ultimate Surfer.
The 27-year-old was born and raised riding waves in Jacksonville Beach, and is the only woman from the East Coast in the competition.
“I am really excited as I’ve already seen the city getting behind me already, and Austin as well. Like it's just so cool, this town is so special. So, getting to represent Duval County, Jax beach is pretty special," Durden explained. "I think that there's so many good young girl surfers here. I'm hoping that this kind of shows all of them that you can be from Jacksonville, and you can do it – you can make it and pursue pro surfing as a career. I'm hoping this inspires a lot of people on the East Coast, not just Florida, too."
Durden grew up surfing with Austin Clouse, 26, who’s another one of the 14 contestants.
They say it was special to share this experience together.
“It was cool having her there because we kind of had each other's backs," Clouse explained.
He was taught to surf at 5 years old by his brother in their hometown, Ormond Beach, before later moving to Jacksonville and then California.
After his father died from cancer, Clouse returned to Jacksonville to continue chasing his surf dreams and teach the next generation.
“With me being on the show and representing Jacksonville and being a role model for these kids to look up to and then hearing my story – that's really exciting for me. I've always wanted the platform to inspire," he said.
Durden and Clouse say they trained hard before they moved to California, but catching waves by the Jacksonville Beach pier is a lot different than Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, which is powered by human-made wave technology.
“You really can't prepare for a wave pool until you're there. And that wave is so particular and so technical," Durden explained.
“Going from flat waves and Florida summertime surf to the most perfect wave in the world. It was exciting," Clouse said.
The Ultimate Surfer contestants are competing for $100,000 and a spot on the World Surf League's
“Of course, there's drama," Clouse explained. “When you're in the middle of the desert for 31 days, competing for one of the biggest things that we've all worked for in our entire lives. Yeah, you're gonna get the drama.”
“There's a lot of rivalries and alliances that you'll see pretty quickly," Durden said. “The surfing is going to be all time – it's going to be a really highly competitive athletic show, which is something really cool for surfing, too. So, it'll be worth watching. You should tune in.”
The Ultimate Surfer will air on ABC 25 Mondays and Tuesday at 10 p.m. for the next four weeks ahead of First Coast News at 11 p.m.