The SURFER Interview: Chris Ward

SURFER: Does having her in your life put things in perspective for you?

CHRIS WARD: Well, the things she's taught me are probably the biggest lessons I could ever get. She was the first person in my life who taught me how to really listen to people. When you're young you just want to get a word in. Then one day you realize you really have to listen, and that was something I wasn't aware of until she came along.

SURFER: Was her arrival in your life at such a young age stressful?

CHRIS WARD: Well, at the time her mom and I were pretty into each other. We'd been dating for a while but obviously we were pretty young. Still, we thought we were going to pull it off. But as soon as Malia was around that's when reality hits, y'know. I did all I could to help at the time, but the stress definitely took a toll on our relationship, and we broke up. It was definitely a tough time. But today my daughter is doing great and I'm pretty settled into a regular visitation routine. I see her every other weekend and a couple other overnights when I'm not traveling, and I cherish those moments with her. She's a beautiful girl with an amazing personality. Kids are funny. I love to see how their minds work. They're always so much smarter than you think, and sometimes you catch them trying to hide things from you, it's classic.

SURFER: What does she think of your job?

CHRIS WARD: Well, she knows daddy travels a lot and goes to contests. And she's surfing now too. I bought her a board just like the one I learned on, as a total surprise, just like mine was, so we've got the whole circle of life thing going.

SURFER: Is she any good?

CHRIS WARD: Yeah. I was actually amazed the first time I took her surfing-she did great. I think her whole attitude is that if daddy can do it than I can. I took her out the other day and she stood up on her first wave, rode it all the way until her fins were dragging in the sand and just stepped off.

SURFER: If you make the WCT do you anticipate being able to see her more, or less?

CHRIS WARD: More. If I can qualify then I won't have to be gone nearly as much, because the WQS tour is way worse on your schedule, and there're a lot of my weekends that I miss. I'd love to get some of those back so we could just take more time to relax and go surfing.

SURFER: It seems like with all that's gone on in your life at such an early age, you haven't really had time to absorb these things and think about them. Do you feel set with your plans for the future?

CHRIS WARD: It's funny you say that, because just sitting here doing this interview helps me put things into perspective. There was a time where I definitely wasn't thinking about anything really, but my next session. But I think the road ahead is starting to become more visible. The future looks like it's within my control now.