COCO FOVEAU: SURVIVAL INSTINCTCOCO FOVEAU: SURVIVAL INSTINCTCoco Foveau looks back on a gnarly wipe out in Fiji and manages to see the funny side of being punished by an eight-metre set!When survival instinct has a sense of humour: My first beating in Fiji!SURVIVAL INSTINCTCF: You can never predict what survival instinct will make you do in certain situations. Looking back, I think mine had quite a sense of humour that day.In 2023, a competition was held in Fiji. Since that doesnt happen every day, I decided to join some riders earlier to enjoy the mythical spot.On my 3rd day there, conditions were extreme: 8-meter waves, little wind but enough to get in the water. Around me: Morgan Noireaux, Antoine Martin, Ricardo Campello true legends. I was proud to be among them but also intimidated: I had never sailed in waves that big. But JAWS was one of my dreams, and that day, I felt I was getting closer to it.CAUTIOUS APPROACHI started cautiously, on the smaller ones, 5-meter waves. Already a big challenge. I focused: surf clean, climb a bit toward the lip without getting ejected, find the balance between being suicidal too far inside the wave and being chicken too far outside.Now let me ask you a question: Whats between the small waves? While you think about it, Ill continue my story.I take a small wave, handle it well to the end, jibe, turn around and realize my mistake: a GIGA set is coming. And me, totally inside. No inertia, impossible to escape the 8-meter Big Mama rushing at me.I tell myself my gear is done for anyway, so better not hold on. I jump away from it. Antoine is on the wave, right in my axis. Only one strategy: breathe as much as possible. The wave swallows me.Underwater, I panic. Then I reason with myself:DONT PANICDont panic. You run out of air when you panic.True you love playing in the shore break usually, its the same thing, right?I resurface, just in time to see Morgan on the next one. Panic: hes further inside, Ill be in his path. I scream, he turns his head, sees me and keeps going. In the end, he passes much farther than I thought. My perception was completely skewed. And I catch myself thinking: Actually, Ive got a great angle to watch them surf.New wave, new washing machine. I panic again, then reason with myself:Why are you panicking? Youre not going to die, otherwise youd have already seen your life flashing before your eyes.That thought calms me.I resurface, take three breaths, Ricardo charges down the next wave and I dive again. By now, I know I have to move. No jet ski to save me, the surfers who had one already left. So, I alternate between washing machine mode and breaststroke to reach the channel. Luckily the waves are smaller, but still 45 meters.BACK TO SAFETYFinally, out of range, I breathe. On the boat, my friends are stunned. They were counting sails, saw one missing: Mine. Panic. Especially since I was rightly considered the rookie of the moment. When they hear me laughing (nervously) and saying: I just got wrecked like never before!, they sigh with relief.Morgan and Antoine are relieved too, but remind me of the lesson: always look behind before going. Clearly, I needed that beating to get it.We head to recover my gear on the Hachich kebab reef, a name that fits perfectly given how destructive it can be. Surprise: my gear is intact! The wave had thrown it so far away that no other wave could break it.BACK ON THE HORSEStill full of adrenaline, I see them derigging for me and I go: Oh really? So, I stop here then? They look at me, shocked. But I insist: after a fall, you need to get back in the saddle quickly. So, I regain some strength and head back out.Out at sea, the guys congratulate me. Ricardo Campello even tells me:You have big balls, girl.Honestly, is there a better ending to this story?Well, yes A few days later, the competition starts, and I grab my very first world podium: 3rd place, right next to Sarah Hauser and Sarah-Quita Offringa.One note: this story happened back when I still had my former equipment sponsors. I couldnt share the story without images, so they appear in it. But barely three months later, that partnership ended.Luckily, GUNSAILS and Flikka picked up the torchand what a torch! Just a few weeks after receiving their gear, I was already landing my second world podium in Hawaii, which propelled me onto the Overall World Podium.Today, I am more grateful and motivated than ever to have found in them partners who believed in me and chose to support me. I cant wait to create new memories in Fiji with them.The post COCO FOVEAU: SURVIVAL INSTINCT appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.