Watch: Caity Simmers // Blouse
Following Toasted and Bell Jar, Blouse is the third edit Caity Simmers has released in the last twelve months. However, if you check her YouTube account you'll see they're not the only edits; Caity has uploaded all manner of quirky clips with titles such as 760, Batish [that's crazy bruh], and Fantastic Cat, which includes the song of the same name from Japanese musician Takako Minekawa.
It's all very freeform and Myspacey, a visual scrapbook of someone who's curious about culture and aesthetics as opposed to results and contest performances.
Blouse carries on the tradition with Caity's fast and flowing surfing - squint and you'll see shades of Taj - interspersed by moments of joyous eccentricity: first gen video graphics, crude animation, Super 8 vignettes that tell no story about the women's world number one. There's no point in the average punter trying to interpret meaning, they just are.
As Caity is.
Let's put Blouse aside for a moment, zoom outwards, and bring other female CT surfers into the picture, particularly her younger peers. The sweet-natured yet God-fearing Erin Brooks, the doughty broad-accented spirit of Molly Picklum, Bettylou and Vahine, who might once have been the elegant non-surfing models in a Roxy ad but would now spray you in the face as they fly by, and Sawyer Lindblad, who's willingness to play arch-villain - remember her paddling intereference at Sunset last year? - betrays a win-at-all costs attitude.
I've deliberately left out any description of how the above women surf. You see, surfing, even contest surfing, leans heavily on character. A good roundhouse will only get your so far, but if the performance comes with attitude, quotes, or quirks, then the surfer will get noticed and fans will get in their corner. Narratives form, rivalries too, both real and perceived - a natural opposition that makes contests exciting.
So, if you take the above descriptions and place them alongside Caity's art-school aesthetics, then it's clear the women currently have the more interesting and diverse side of the CT draw.
Pick the surfer you click with, the one living the lifestyle you admire, and start cheering cos while the men have lost JJF and Gabs, the women are set for a season of plenty.
Comments
What an enjoyable little read, thanks Stu.
Cheers Sprout. While watching it I kept having flashes of recent vids from HPC-trained male athletes. Same sport but entirely different approaches to it. The above could be called frivolous and arty, except Caity is the world number one.
Night and day innit.
Agreed great read @stu. Cheers.
I reckon the Pickle is primed this year sans Micro.
Fresh slate.
Wish I could surf like a mix of Caity and Ben Webb.
She's got great boards.
A teenage me would have had a big crush on her.
A teenage me and adult me would have a crush on Sage Erikson or Malia Manuel.
Malia is the most beautiful woman have ever seen surfing . And way better surfer in person than how she appears in contests . She is stunning to look at in the lineup .
So hard not to stare
Keep it in your pants Watt.
The past is a different country :-)
Alas.
I’m looking forward to when we get a female clay Marzo
caity is great but females have a lot more potential. There will be far greater surfers than her that will follow as more and more young girls grow up as surfers
agree @WT. conceptually, caity is probs my fave ct surfer. fun as to watch, loves waves with a private passion (seems immune to guff), without being an antihero.. just doing the do, stress not a cakewalk for her, but really likes the job. she's setting the tone for some impending wunderkinds, no doubt. ^ excellent thinks @stu.
seems like a really nice person...prefer to watch and listen to her than Tyler any day...
Very cool young lady....
Love it....
video with lots of waves completely worthy of a world champ...
Wonderful footage of an amazing surfer! Perhaps one day Swellnet will employ a woman to write about women’s surfing, rather than having the only women’s bylines being content lifted for free from the ABC?
Actually, we have been syndicating ABC content - that is, paying for it - since 2016. We recently cancelled the contract though because we found we had stopped using it over the last few years (the contract allowed us to republish anything beach/surf/coastal related; it was handy for breaking news events - like shark attacks - where we didn't have any local contacts).
As for paying for women to write, the door is always open. Who would you recommend?
I love the writing here and the comp reviews are the best. But I’m ashamed to admit I go to beachgrit for Jen See’s write ups on the women tour and surfing. Would absolutely follow her as a writer if she moved elsewhere. You should check out her pipe preview.
Thanks Nate. Out of interest, would you subscribe to Swellnet in order to read articles by Jen See (or any one else)?
Yes. I’m a bit embarrassed I use the site for articles so hadn’t subscribed. But I will do that today I feel I more than get my money from the articles you already post. I’d actually dump my stab sub in favour of this but I think I’ll do both
Unreal Nate, thanks for your support!
I must say I find JS underwhelming. And I see no need to have a woman writing about women's surfing.
Um I guess as a woman I like her take on the personalities and extra detail I get on the women’s side. Especially for me the new generation is really exciting. Not to everyone’s taste I guess. But only as an add on - definitely don’t want to lose our regular comp write ups here as they are often better than the comps
Haha. Maybe next you should climb a tree and shout 'i'm a dinosaur' while beating your chest. Orrghhh Arghhhh!
Exactly, he could sit up there till the cows come home to roost.
After all, a rolling stone gathers a rock and a hard place.
Interesting comment though isn't it?
'i see no need for a woman to write about womans surfing'.
I wonder when is a woman needed?
And would that comment be made if there already was a woman writing about womens surfing? Is there a difference?
btw Caity Simmers is a fkn incredible surfer. Such a sick clip.
Definitely an interesting conversation to have although taking a bit of heat out of it is probably a good idea.
If you engage IB and maybe FR it could be an excellent chat.
Ideally without the finger pointing though :)
Fair points.
Happy to observe from here. hehe.
Cheers.
Didn't want to bring FR into this, but since you mention him :-) I reckon he and Stu both write very well (beautifully, even) about women's surfing.
And I don't think JS's writing brings anything especially feminine/female to the table, it's just her take.
Not that I'm particularly invested in this discussion, here are a couple of thoughts -
- I don't really think that you need a female to write about females in competitive surfing.
- A female point of view would be handy at time regarding the ins and outs of sponsorship, life on the tour ( as opposed to competition surfing), experiences in the water and other bits and pieces.
- Agree that Jen See is entertaining enough but brings no insight into female/feminine aspects of surfing. Though she has spent time talking about her red bikini if I remember right.
Yeah she’s a shocker.
Ever tried to read her Surfline man stories? Painful reading.
Just so, like, omg, like cali surfer dude, like yasss
Get Steph on the payroll thermal. She’s free now.
haha, just what i was thinking. she could even chill at SN central, she's got a pad down the street, surely?
Probably owns the swellnet basement it operates out of b6!
Has Steph ever had anything published before? I've never seen anything of hers other than Instagram stories.
(That's not a criticism, I'm genuinely curious if she can write)
dunno, but punk icon lucy small wrote a very cute piece about kingo blowin chelsea williams a long time ago, and she demonstrably has time on her hands..
Punk icon?
Lucy isn't the first name that pops in my head when I think of 'punk' and/or 'icon'.
haha, yep, chas reference..
Not that I can recall ever seeing.
She did the write up on Caity in the latest Surfing World 50 Best Surfers. Check it out, it's good!
Great I’m going to check it out.
IB .. usually dig your intelligent insights... and you definitely have a brain, but seems that brain was made in the 1870s.
WTF do we know about what surfing ladies would like to read... this site is Jurassic Park... and old dinosaurs love it
But as it stands, no new school girls would find anything that appeals here.
Ben is on the right track exploring options for an audience that aren't rusted on pschophants.
Uncomfortably close to 1870, young man. And rusty in many ways :-)
I think you slightly misunderstand my point, but that's ok. But for instance I enjoy watching women's tennis with a male commentator - and vice versa. See what I mean?
Unfortunately IB I think you will find the true believers and zealots cannot see any sort of nuance.
What an odd thing to say. I guess I see no reason to have a man write about men surfing. But for some reason they always do.
Also diversity is good. More interesting
As a woman (and ex journalist), I would love to see a woman doing write ups. Doesn't just have to be for the women's comps either. When I was growing up there was such lack of voices from the women's side of surfing that we basically started up our own networks in the 2010s (SurfGirl, Curl mag etc). I even wrote a couple of freelance pieces for them.
It's a bit different now with social media and people not needing print to get coverage or write puff pieces, but to answer your question; yes, a woman writing about the women would be great!
TH, why don't you bang some of your stuff off to Stu. I know they're always looking for new and interesting content. I'm sure if it's up to par it will be well received.
Personally, if you didn't put a name to it and it reads well, I don't care which gender writes about what. That's what I like about SN, the quality of writing.
cool vid, great surfing
Next generation female surfer the girl rips while just looking so sharp
Layne Beachley would be good.
A cool young gal ripping.
But the comments in this article are sick
One guy has a crush, another can't stop staring, someone else denigrated Tyler, and the theme seems to be lady writers are not needed because old men know better.
Be ashamed. Be fkn ashamed.
stump up for a go-fund-me woman-journo SN traineeship rather than blathering, i'd kick in. Be sick as.
+1 JB1
Have to agree JB1. Can we just stick to her surfing FFS?
That's some pretty good thought police shit, giving someone a proverbial kicking because they admit they have a crush on someone.
How did it get to this?
Fair call
I will NEVER be ashamed of being attracted to beautiful, intelligent, talented women.
Mmmm...
among others.
back to the vid
it was a pleasant watch
and I love Caity's surfin. Plus she seems to be doin well holding herself toegther amidst all the scrutiny and comes across to me as something of a breath of fesh air
but I didn't think this vid did a great job of showcasing her surfing... what's struck me before in her surfing is the flow, the clean carving, and the occaisional quirky/stylish body movements in parts of the wave that catch you a little by surprise in the best possible ways - I thouhgt there was a lot of reasonably mediocre waves in this vid and her surfing seemed unusually jumpy
I tend to agree. Love her surfing a lot. I found myself looking at the time stamp a bit as I felt there was plenty of filler there.
Different kind of vid - probably not really aimed middle aged blokes.
Good luck this year Caity.
Competition aside- is Caity the Dane Reynolds of womens surfing? Could have been watching a Chapter 11 vid.
I think cause she's so light she has to adjust with timing and finesse. Of which she has buckets of.
87%-94% @zen.
edit: actually 87%-93%.
In My Horsehead Opinion.
The Dane Reynolds of women's surfing who will go on to be multiple world champ if she chooses....
Look forward to the coming years with Caity, Molly and Erin leading the charge. All different personalities, but all shredders.
Edit: should add some other upcoming girls such as Ziggy MacKenzie....
Great era for women's surfing!
I think the vibe of the clip is there but Dane's surfing has always exhibited raw unbridled power in a way that Caity's assertive finesse doesn't say to me. Dane so often does stuff that just looks obscenely reckless and somehow manages to work. Big fan of both surfers though.
I thought the stuff of Caity on a bigger board showed how great her rail work and surfing off the tail are, especially given her light frame.
Damn little potty mouth can surf.
That was sick. The Vicco/WA section was mental, her roundhouse at 9:00 would make Mick proud
Caity's surfing is unreal, love the style. Her clip with Timo and Soli was the surf vid highlight last year, it was epic.
Scrapbook presentation good, feeding cockatoos, well, they have enormous personality and are beautiful but if you encourage them they'll eat your bloody house when they get bored - be warned.
Yes, it was a fun watch. Like how they included the slips, falls, and kook-outs. Endearing. She rips, and for such a small unit she throws spray and shows no fear. Respect.