Bethany Hamilton’s Left Side

Over the summer, Danielle Guglielmetti (junior) had the chance to meet professional surfer, Bethany Hamilton. Guglielmetti has been surfing for six years and is currently a member of the Tige Boat wake surfing team. She has been on the team for two years, and the team competes in wake surfing tournaments throughout the summer. Wake surfing is a water sport in which a rider trails behind a boat, riding the boat’s wakes in the lake.

This summer, the Tige Team found out that Bethany Hamilton was going to be at a tournament in Austin, Texas. Guglielmetti was excited for this tournament because she had the opportunity to teach Hamilton how to wake surf. Before then, Hamilton had only surfed in the ocean, and wake surfing was a new concept for her.

After spending the afternoon with Hamilton, Guglielmetti was inspired by Bethany’s exceptional surfing abilities. Hamilton has only one arm to work with due to a shark attack when she was younger; likewise, Guglielmetti is disabled in her right arm and foot and finds Bethany Hamilton as an incredible role model. She also finds it “astonishing how [she] and Bethany are the same.”

“Bethany was really there for me,” Guglielmetti said, “and she really made me feel secure that I’m not as different as I think, and I can overcome any struggle because she did.”

Guglielmetti received a signed surfboard, as well as shirts and other small gifts from Bethany Hamilton. She looks forward to seeing Hamilton at future wake surfing tournaments and will always remember how Bethany said that “I was her left, and she was my right.”