Rio’s focus has certainly paid off in results. Photo: Matt George
Indonesia’s Rio Waida is a busy man these days as he preps for the 2025 Championship Tour, but he took the time to sit down with me on his home beach of Jimbaran, Bali, for the third in my series of greatest conversations with the most compelling surfers in the world.
The greatest thing about the Olympic experience: I guess it was that I never imagined such a thing could happen to me. I never visualized that I would be the flag bearer for my country on the biggest athletic stage in the world. To be surrounded by all those incredible people, all those athletes, the best from all over the world. Walking around the track of the stadium I felt like I was walking around the world. But I definitely felt the weight of Indonesia on my shoulders. It was like being a military hero or something. Imagine carrying your country’s flag into a stadium in front of the whole planet. It is huge. And all you can think about is to stand up straight and try not to cry with pride.
The greatest thing about government support for surfing: Indonesia is finally looking at what surfing brings to the country. The prestige of having the best waves in the world and more of them than anywhere else. It is great getting financial help right now from the government. I get a salary and some money for travel, but the best thing is that they pay for my training, which is something I think I have proven I take very seriously. I’m doing my best to win, so that this kind of support can grow in the future and be there for whoever is next coming up the line from Indonesia. We are promoting a huge tourist income for Indonesia and I think we surfers deserve being part of the benefits of all this money.
The greatest thing about management: These days you really need it. There’s just way too much going on. And with the opportunities that are out there beyond the surfing world, you need someone that can talk to them too. And just help managing your day to day so you can focus on equipment and performance is the greatest part. It helps you become a businessman as well as a pro athlete. It’s big business and the business is you. It’s like you’re an F1 car. You want the best company’s stickers. And another great thing about management is that your manager can help you pick the companies that match who you are. That’s really important, or you risk being fake. And that will kill a career.
The greatest thing about training hard: The results. Surfing in many ways is a mind game, but your body listens to your mind too. So guided training is really important to get the right body. I’m much stronger than when I started but you don’t want to get so big you lose your flow. My training makes me feel free and confident. So, you have to go after a specific body that your frame is capable of. My height and weight now are very similar to Kelly’s and I think that is a great thing. The closer you can get to that look, that connected-from-head-to-toe look in your surfing, whole-body surfing like he does, the better. That and combined with that incredible flexibility that he has, that’s the goal. To balance making good surfing look like it’s natural for you, but still having spray going into the sky on every move. That’s how you stay in the top 10.
The greatest pressure that comes with fame: Bali is a small island, so everywhere I go here people know about me. It’s getting that way around the world too, but not so much. But the pressure is that the people you meet expect things. Expect you to be a certain way. So personal focus on who you really are is important. When I can, I watch Kelly to see how he handles fame because he is the best at it, knowing when to share and when to focus. That’s the balance you want. The other pressure is that you better be a good surfer. No excuses. And the other pressure is that Indonesians have had a bad reputation of being lazy competitors and travelers and not wanting to leave all our perfect waves. Myself and the next generation are going to stop that reputation.
The greatest challenge to maintaining happiness as a pro: If you’re unhappy in it, if it is just work, work, work, you will not last. Smiles and friendships are a big part of it. And turning all the travel into a fun adventure. Staying curious of other cultures and languages and experiences and being what they call, “well rounded.” Like Leo Fioravanti and guys like that. Do it all wrong and you’ll run home and fail your family and your country and your dreams. No way am I ever going to let that happen.
Waida is trying to change the reputation of Indonesians. Photo: Frederico Vanno//WSL
The greatest thing about the growth hormones you had to take as a kid: The greatest thing about it was my parents. How much they sacrificed for me. I was a little kid, a tiny kid, and girls laughed at me and I got picked on a lot by the bullies. I would fight but they were just so much bigger than me I kept getting hurt. I wasn’t growing well and my school uniforms didn’t fit and, like in restaurants, they would always hand me the child’s menu. It was humiliating. It hurt my mom more than me, I think. Then my mom saw a documentary on Lionel Messi, the footballer, and he was a tiny kid once too and his mom put him on growth hormones and look how that worked out. So, the treatment, it was really expensive for my family. So, my dad, who is Japanese, went to Japan to work construction for more money than in Bali. Big skyscrapers and stuff like that and it was hard work because he was older and Japan is very strict on workers. And my mom got more work here and took care of me and my brother Ryuki. It wasn’t easy times. So, the growth hormones worked and now it is my turn to take care of them. That is an everyday motivation for me. My family deserves to enjoy life, not just survive it.
The greatest thing about the North Shore: That the waves are like giants that you have to face with only a surfboard. Indonesians are not afraid of any reef in the world, but we can be very afraid of big, powerful water. But you must paddle out and be a part of it. To face yourself. To surf hard and long and big as if no one is watching. It has to be about you, your capabilities, and you have to break through barriers or you will disappear. To feel the energy and deal with it, let it run through your body and your mind. There is always an impossible edge to it. But when you face yourself out there and hang on, those impossibilities become possible. That’s the only way to look at it. It’s do or die inside your mind.
The greatest thing about your future: The whole idea is become a really important part of the international conversation. It’s a big gamble, but for my family, for my country and for me, I’m all in.
