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The Conversation: 09/11/2015 00:32 GMT: Surfers: Cori Schumacher and Ishita Malaviya

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Surfers: Cori Schumacher and Ishita Malaviya

09/11/2015 00:32 GMT

09/11/2015 00:32 GMT: Surfers: Cori Schumacher and Ishita Malaviya

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Surfers: Cori Schumacher and Ishita Malaviya

India's first female professional surfer talks to former world champion Cori Schumacher

India's first female professional surfer talks to former world champion Cori Schumacher.

Cori Schumacher was surfing before she was born - her mother, also a professional surfer, carried on surfing while she was pregnant. Cori got her first board when she was five and was competing by eight. She quickly came to love the sport and her dedication led her to become a three-time world champion. However, she came to have reservations about aspects of surf culture and the pressure placed on female athletes to be attractive and thin. She now campaigns to raise the status of women's surfing and to make surf culture more inclusive. 

Ishita Malaviya grew up in Mumbai where there was very little surf culture. Many Indians, she says, have a fear of the sea. Ishita first learnt to surf at university. She and her boyfriend saved up to buy a second-hand board which they shared - one of them would practise in the waves while the other cheered from the beach. Now Ishita has been recognised as India's first female professional surfer. She runs a school where she 'spreads the stoke of surfing' to other Indians. 

(Photo: (Left) Cori Schumacher. Credit: Maria Cerda. (Right) Ishita Malaviya. Credit: The Shaka Surf Club)

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