LET’S TALK WITH SURFER FILIPPO ORSO
Filippo Orso always has his eyes turned to the sea. Also when it is flat, he is waiting for waves to come.
By Erika Scafuro
Filippo Orso always has his eyes turned to the sea. Also when it is flat, he is waiting for waves to come. Surf teaches you to be patient, teaches you that there is a time for every single movement; surf puts you to test how much you really want to catch waves and teaches you that the call of the sea can be stronger than anything: if waves arrive you must enter in the water, there aren’t other priorities.
Filippo Orso, Italian pro surfer born and raised in Pietra Ligure. What does it mean to make a job out of your passion?
I dedicated all my life to the sea and to surf, to make my passion a job. I am not a professional surfer of the World Surf League, so I also deal with organizing surfcamps, in which I work as an instructor too, and I collaborate with the californian brand Bear. Being in contact with this sport, talking about waves, sea storms and surf boards…is part of my life.
When did you realize that surf would become your life?
I started to surf when I was around 10 years old. In Summer as a child I used to have fun with my friends with body board and surf. From pastime has become a need, at some point it has become essential for me to enter the sea. I understood it when I took a sea bath with the wetsuit for the first time, the impossible thing was to surf in Winter.
If you had to choose a moment of these years as a surfer, what would it be and where would you be?
Surely the surfexploration in Iceland in 2015: a breathtaking landscape, the experience of having surfed among the icebergs and having seen the light for 24 consecutive hours even surfing in the middle of the night.
How did your relation with Bear come about?
In 2018 I was called to lend my image as a surfer for a shooting. It is pure causality that my name corresponds to the mark!
“You’re always alone, anyway. That’s the test of a surfer. You shouldn’t have to depend on anybody” said Bear’s character in “Big Wednesday”. Do you share this thought?
Yes, I share it. On the wave you are alone, you decide the wave you want to take and interpret it at your leisure. It’s just you and no one tells you what to do. That’s the spirit of surf.
The sea is your habitat. Thanks to surfing it is possible to spread a sustainable message, paying attention to problems related to pollution of the sea. What are the needs that you consider urgent to protect it? It is important that influential people like you can convey a message to the new generations and make them aware of these issues.
I am very careful and have the greatest respect for the sea and for he beach. I always say that the beach is my gym, my playground and my relief valve. And as it is for me it is for so many other people. So as well as everybody keeps the gym clean and tidy, the same must happen with the sea. I care particularly about it. Over the years, a lot of people didn’t care about this, and now that we know what’s going on, it would be foolish to keep acting like it’s nothing.
What kind of workout do you do to get ready to catch waves?
The best training is to surf. I try to surf as much as possible, during the Summer I move to surf on the Atlantic Ocean, while in Winter, being the most profitable season for the italian waves, I try not to miss a single swell here.
What’s next?
Chasing my perfect wave. I hope it will never come so that I can keep looking for it.
