Andrew Jenks, documentary filmmaker, shadows professional surfer Anastasia Ashley this week on “World of Jenks.” Ashley is training to compete in the U.S. Open of Surfing, the largest professional surfing competition in the world.
When Jenks first meets Ashley, she gives him a hat and tells him of the upcoming competition that she is competing in.
When she gives him the hat, I naturally assumed Ashley would be a nice, respectful girl. Boy, was I wrong.
Ashley’s personality is direct. She speaks her mind and gets upset with just about everyone. Ashley doesn’t worry about what people think of her, she just tries to surround herself with “real” people.
Then she wonders why people don’t like her.
Later, Jenks goes with Ashley and learns to surf. When he gets out of the water, he closely resembles a washed up dog.
Surprisingly, surfing isn’t as easy as he thinks.
The next day, Jenks accompanies Ashley to her publicity photos. He also jumps in a bikini and stands in similar poses.
Seeing Jenks in a bikini is the funniest thing in the world. My life is now complete.
Jenks questions Ashley about her family in attempts to get past her hard exterior. Her mom died of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she comments on how she watched the deterioration of her mom.
Even though Ashley talks of an emotional subject, she still remains composed. Nothing Jenks does gets any kind of emotion out of her. The girl is ridiculously stoic.
Finally, Ashley competes in the U.S. Open where she has the chance to become fourth in the world for surfing (instead of her current top 50th spot.)
In the competition, each surfer is given 20 minutes to catch as many waves as he or she can. This is the hardest part about surfing. The waves are inconsistent and unpredictable. Sometimes there are many waves and sometimes there are none.
Ashley comes in third place in her round. She is a talented surfer and does well in this highly competitive competition.
Next week, Jenks follows around a professional cheerleader.
Gabbrielle Joseph can be reached for comment at [email protected]