Rachel Tominaga carves out her place in the line-up [SURFING]
Tominaga’s sponsors include Body Glove, and Spyder and Roberts surfboards. Photo by Brian Morris (BrianMorrisPhotgraphy.viewbook.com)
Rachel Tominaga and her father Scott started surfing at the same time.
“I started surfing when I was eight at the Kanoa Surf Camp. I only surfed in the summer time because I hated to wear wetsuits. They were just too tight and restrictive,” said the 15-year-old Mira Costa sophomore.
“Then, when I was 12, I caught the ‘Blue Crush.’ Tommy Ostendorf began pushing me to surf every day through the winter at Marine Street, just down from my house in Manhattan Beach,” she said.
Her enthusiasm made her parents nervous.
“I would be watching Rachel chasing the big outside sets,” said her mother Karen, “and it scared me. I would tell the lifeguard to keep an eye on her, but sometimes there was no lifeguard on duty. So I told my husband Scott to get a board and learn to surf. They went to the Becker Surf Shop and got two new boards.”
Tominaga got a 6-foot hybrid and her father a 9-foot longboard. Now she has three Jake Kelly models from Roberts Surfboards — two 5-foot-3 speed shapes and a 5-foot-1 small wave board called “The Black Dump Truck”
Tominaga surfed in her first contest when she was in the seventh grade.
“It was a NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) contests at Newport Beach. I was in the juniors and didn’t do very well, at all,” she said.
In the eighth grade, her contest surfing improved. “I reached the finals of every Western Surfing Association Contest,” she said.
Last year, Tominaga finished first overall in the Junior Women’s and second overall in the Women’s divisions of the South Bay Boardriders contest series. She also placed third overall in the Western Surfing Association Women’s division.
Last winter, Tominaga was the South Bay Surf League Rookie of the Year and made it to the finals in every contest she entered. She’s one of the reasons high school surf league director John Joseph believes this will be the best year in the 20-year-old league’s history for female competition.
“The most important thing about last year’s contests is that I earned enough points from my NSSA and WSA results to qualify for the Surfing America Prime Surf Contest series, which leads to the United States Surfing Championships at Lower Trestles in June. I can’t wait to surf Trestles with just five other girls in the water,” she said.
Tominaga surfs Marine Street in Manhattan Beach with Max Roseman, Connor Bennett, Wyatt Boyd and Payne English. She also loves surfing Lower Trestles with Mira Costa teammate Noah Collins.
“Lowers is my favorite break. When Noah and I get together on the lefts anything goes. Nobody pushes me in the water like Noah. He is always trying the impossible and you have to try and keep up. It makes you surf better just surfing next to him.”
Tominaga’s favorite maneuver is a strong off the lip. “I like going as fast as I can high off the top, then sliding into a heavy carve cutback on the way down. That’s why the low tide lefts at Lowers are my favorite. When the tide comes in it’s time to work on my cutbacks.”
Tominaga’s surfing influences are Natalie Anzivino, who won the South Bay Boardriders Contest Series the past two seasons, and pro Stephanie Gillmore.
Rachel Tominaga launches into her favorite maneuver, carving off the lip. Photo by R Bickford
“Natalie is such a powerful surfer. She digs in deep, carving hard turns then explodes off the top and stays on. She is a very serious surfer while Stephanie Gillmore is all smiles. Stephanie loves surfing and is out there to have fun, whether free surfing or in a contest. When Stephanie falls she never gets down or mad.”
Noah Collins, Matt Pagen and her next door neighbor former South African pro surfer Warren Kushner have also been big influences, she said.
Tominaga is sponsored by Spyder Surfboards, whose Dennis Jarvis, Chris Broman and Dickie O’Rielly have been a huge help, she said, along with Body Glove Wetsuits, Odina Swimwear, Dizm Sunglasses, Waxywax and Roberts Surfboards.