THE VANGUARD
EASKEY BRITTON MARINE SOCIAL SCIENTIST “I’ve always been connected with the sea, I don’t remember not being in it,” says former pro surfer Easkey Britton. “I first stood up on a surfboard when I was about four years old.” Named after the surf spot on Sligo’s north coast, there was an air of inevitably over the Donegal native’s surf career and she has gone on to become one of Ireland’s best-known surfers, a five-time Irish National Champion and a British Pro Tour Champion as well as a big wave surfer. She is now fusing her ocean experience with her academic life via a PhD in environment and society, and is studying how we can better reconnect with the incredible, tumultuous resource on our doorstep. “Surfers have a natural curiosity because we’re immersed in an environment that constantly changes so you’re always observing and noticing patterns and interconnectivity,” she says. “Plus, you never get out of the water feeling worse than when you got in.” Easkey’s work, both in academia and in her surf therapy and sea-swimming programmes, encourages people to discover the holistic experience of the sea, one that she has felt ebbing and flowing her entire life. “Every time I get into the sea, it reveals something new to me, it’s immersive in so many ways, physically but also mentally, emotionally.” easkeybritton.com
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