Rio Waida might be one of the best surfers on the planet, but he still remembers the days when, paralyzed with fear, he would be coaxed onto a board by his parents and dragged out into the middle of the ocean.
Born into a surf-loving family on the Indonesian island of Bali – home to pristine waves and tropical waters – it was perhaps only a matter of time before Waida overcame his fears and fell for the sport.
“Somehow I started to love surfing – I don’t know why,” he tells CNN Sport.