Surfing
Surfing
How Izzi Gomez fell back in love with big wave surfing
In her new film Chrysalis, the legendary big wave surfer reflects on how one key shift in her mindset changed everything.
Izzi Gomez knows what it takes to face some of the biggest waves in the world. But around 2024, the accomplished surfer found herself facing a different kind of challenge. Self-doubt was growing, pressure was building and the sport she loved no longer felt the same.
Her new film, Chrysalis, charts the 26-year-old Colombian-American’s journey back. At its heart is the idea that rebuilding doesn’t happen through one perfect session, but slowly – by confronting self-doubt, letting go of perfection and rediscovering why you started in the first place. “A couple of years ago, I had to step away from big wave surfing,” Gomez says. “This is the story of how I fell back in love with it.” Watch it below:
18 min
Chrysalis: An Izzi Gomez Surf Film
Izzi Gomez returns to the place she feels most at home: the biggest waves the surf world has to offer.
01
How Izzi Gomez found big wave surfing
Gomez didn’t start out hunting big waves. She grew up surfing normal-sized waves in Florida and California, but surfing wasn’t even what she was best known for at first. Stand-up paddleboarding was her first love, and she won five women’s SUP world titles as a teenager.
It was only in 2019, when she was 20, that she decided to pursue big wave surfing. “There weren't a lot of women doing it, and honestly, there weren't a lot of invitations either,” she says of those early days. Rather than put her off, that only made her more determined to make her mark.
Izzi Gomez started out with success on the paddle board
© Lucas Gilman/Red Bull Content Pool
“The first time I saw those waves up close, something in my brain just clicked,” she remembers. “Big waves have always had this reputation, like they're the final boss in surfing. You can feel the weight of the ocean out there, like it's testing you, and every time I paddle into one, I'm thinking the same thing: ‘All right, let's see if I belong here.’”
She quickly proved that she did, making a name for herself at events including Red Bull Magnitude. But something changed. Self-doubt and pressure began to build until Gomez eventually stepped away from the big waves she had worked so hard to reach.
02
When big waves stopped feeling like freedom
All professional athletes are under tremendous pressure. In big wave surfing, that pressure is literal, as well as metaphorical. Mess up on a huge wave, and the weight crashing down is like a building collapsing on top of you. Doubting your ability to survive that is arguably a necessity of self-preservation. It’s a feeling Gomez knows well.
It just wasn't safe to be out there in that headspace
“The last couple years, I was dealing with a lot of self-doubt and was applying so much pressure on myself,” she says at the start of the film. This feeling built up, leading to what she calls “a pretty unhealthy mindset”.
Eventually she realised, as painful as it would be, she needed to step away from big waves. “It just wasn't safe to be out there in that headspace of questioning myself and my abilities, so I just stopped surfing in waves completely,” she says.
Pressure and self-doubt had started to take the joy out of surfing
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Little did she know, this wasn’t the end, but the start of a new journey entirely.
03
Learning how to have fun in the water again
A surfer away from waves is like a fish out of water. For Gomez, limiting the size of her goals was essential. But the sea needed to remain in her life. With big waves out of the picture, she kept herself busy, taking trips like one to Tofino, British Columbia, where she chased smaller waves and learned to reconnect with the ocean.
“Anything to stay in the water and out of my head,” she says. There was a sense of push-pull. The sea was the place of her biggest doubts, but it was also where she felt most at home. “Surfing will always be a constant in my life, but I think it's so important to take time to reset,” she says.
The pull of big waves never left Izzi Gomez
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
I never lost sight of what I'd left behind
Exploring new waves with friends and without pressure felt like “the most natural thing” and helped her rebuild her confidence at her own speed. “These trips helped me in a lot of ways. Just resetting, reconnecting with why I fell in love with surfing in the first place,” she says. “I leaned into the change of pace, remote waves, that feeling of adventure.”
But through it all, she couldn’t help but feel she was distracting herself from her true passions. “I never lost sight of what I'd left behind,” she says. “Big waves were still there in the back of my head. Deep down, I know that's what I want to be doing.”
Suddenly, after two seasons without a big wave trip, she got a call inviting her to surf at California’s legendary big wave spot, Mavericks, at the start of the season. Buoyed by her time away, she was all in. Or, as Gomez puts it: “I decided to show up.”
04
The return didn’t go smoothly
Mavericks is famous for absolutely crushing waves. As Gomez puts it: “Big waves are the final boss in surfing.” Mavericks, then, is the final boss of final bosses.
You don't get a warm up at Mavericks. There's no room to be rusty
Despite her fears, time away had helped her confidence. She dove in. In the documentary, we see a swirling, pulsing ocean of grey. It seems alive, ready to eat up surfers at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately for Gomez, after a few tentative runs, that’s what happens.
“I got deleted!” she explains of her wipeout. The aim had been to get comfortable on big waves again, without underestimating them. “You kind of forget there's no real easing into it out here,” she says. “You don't get a warm up at Mavericks. There's no room to be rusty. It doesn't wait for you to feel ready. You're either on it or you're not.“
With damage to her ribs, this means more time out for Gomez. But facing down Mavericks – while not going exactly to plan – did help put things back into perspective for her. “I just have to accept that this is part of it: getting pushed, getting shaken, and still wanting to come back.” In other words, there’s no smooth without the rough.
For Izzi Gomez, nothing beats the feeling of riding a big wave
© Frank Quirarte/Red Bull Content Pool
The experience wasn’t a complete failure. Instead, it was another part of the learning curve. “I need to realise how far I've come, and how proud my past self would be of me,” Gomez reflects. An x-ray showed no breaks and despite some painful bruises, the passion was reignited, and two months later, she had a new challenge in her sights.
05
Momentum, finally
Eight weeks later, Gomez is lining up at Pe'ahi Jaws Surf Break, another of the world’s best surf spots and a legendary Hawaii spot. (Fun trivia fact, it was also the home of the short-lived Red Bull Jaws contest). For Gomez, it was familiar turf. But, with her injuries only barely healed and her mind still unsure of her future in the sport, it was important not to put too much pressure on her run.
“I really just want to like put more hours in the water and try to paddle a little more and learn from Ian Walsh and Kai Lenny and just get comfortable again,” she says in her film, shouting out the two big wave surfers who have worked with her to help her get back on her feet.
Finding the joy in surfing again has been key for Izzi
© Christa Funk/Red Bull Content Pool
I’m feeling really happy… I finally have momentum again
Nerves and respect for the wave battled in Gomez’s mind, but approaching the break with a “really good” no-pressure mindset ended up being a healthy and “super fun” approach. Gomez was up and back on the board, and everything seemed to be clicking again, both mentally and physically.
It wasn’t about perfect water or an insane swell, but just going out there, being humble, and still giving it her all. “I’m feeling really happy,” Gomez says as she leaves the beach. “I finally have momentum again.”
06
Putting her new mindset to the test
Few places in the world are as reliably gnarly as Tahiti. With her confidence returning, Gomez headed out to pit herself against some monster waves. It was the ultimate test of her new mindset, especially as she landed just in time for a monster swell coming in off the Pacific.
For Gomez, it felt like it was meant to be. “I knew the swell was coming, and I kind of went back and forth [in my head]. I thought about it, wrote it off, and then decided, ‘You know what? I should just go.’”
She did, dropping in time and again on deep blue waves that proved that not only is she back, her time away might have actually made her a better, stronger and more resilient surfer. In other words: she’s back.
Gomez never lost sight of her desire to return to big waves
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
07
What she learned by coming back
Ultimately, this is a story of self-doubt, and how that isn’t always a bad thing. Gomez had very valid fears. And by taking time to examine them, she learned to overcome them, even if it meant a few setbacks – and bruised ribs – along the way. The result is a more confident athlete who now knows that her limits are quite a bit higher than she thought they were.
“These past few years have been such a roller coaster,” she says. “I've learned to let go, to trust myself, and trust the process. It felt like everything I struggled with was so worth it and necessary to get me to this point. It was like Mother Ocean giving me like the biggest hug ever.”
Crucially, Gomez learned that even the best surfers in the world can’t be perfect all the time. And that’s OK. “I’m realising I have such a great support system in this, and I can really lean on them to help me out. I think I finally convinced myself that I do belong here. It didn’t take a perfect wave or an insane session, but a realisation that this is truly where I want to be.”
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