It’s an average Tuesday in Dunedin, New Zealand. The after school rush is in full force as I navigate traffic on the way to the St Kilda Surf Lifesaving HQ. The sky is blue and the air is almost warm – remarkably mild for a winter’s day in Dunedin. The local groms have traded their school kits for wetsuits and rush to the surf after a long day in the classroom.
A wiry teenager walks up to me, still in his school slacks. He’s got a serious look to him and shakes my hand with an iron grip. “I’m Lexi.”
I knew that, of course. The 16-year-old from Warrington has made quite the name for himself in Dunedin and around New Zealand. He’s a three-time national champion and recently made waves in the international arena by claiming 4th in the world at the 2024 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador.
However unassuming he is out of the water, Alexis Owen is impossible to miss in the ocean. I learned that the hard way during a fun day on Dunedin’s south coast. Lexi paddled non-stop, catching twice as many waves as anyone else. Somehow, he’d appear in the perfect spot every time and aggressively kick up spray back down to the beach. Then he’d paddle back in time for the next set. Partly in disbelief and partly defeated, I paddled down the beach for some waves of my own.
Today, Lexi and I walk along St. Kilda beach in search of a good bank. The wind is light and offshore, but the swell is pretty pathetic for Dunedin standards. It’s maybe two foot, and there’s still a wintry bite to the coastal breeze. Lexi gazes towards the sea. “Too much south swell recently. The banks aren’t going.”
He’s right. Up and down the beach is a mess of closeouts and mushy-looking waves. But the groms are out and as they walk past us down the beach, they smile and wave and try to get Lexi’s attention. He keeps his eyes locked on the ocean and pretends not to notice.
For the world number four, these conditions are certainly not ideal. I can tell he’s still itching to get out. “I surf at least once a day,” Lexi explains. “No matter what the conditions look like, even if it’s just for twenty minutes. In the summer I try to get out before school and at least once, maybe even twice after school.”
Incredibly, Lexi is a first-generation surfer. Most top surfers in New Zealand come from established surfing families; surfing is simply in their blood. But Lexi’s parents never surfed until recently, and Lexi himself didn’t start surfing seriously until he was about 9 years old.
“My dad grew up in Christchurch,” Lexi explains, “but he played football and cricket. My Mum’s from England, so she didn’t surf either. It was only when I was about two years old that my parents decided to give it a try. At the time, we were at the beach a lot – my parents would go out surfing and leave me and my older brother Jake to play in the water,” he laughs. “Eventually, we got a bodyboard so we began to play around on that. And then one of my mates got me into surf lifesaving, and that’s when my connection to the ocean really started.”
“Until I was about five I was just a clubby,” Lexi continues, “but it got to a point where I saw surfing on the TV, and my brother started surfing along with my parents. So then I began trying to stand up on my paddleboard and my parents were like ‘why don’t you just surf?’ So I tried, and at first I hated it. I just wanted to be a clubby. But surfing is way cooler than paddling out on a paddle board,” he laughs, “and over time it grew on me and I got really into it.”
“At first I hated it. I just wanted to be a clubby. But surfing is way cooler than paddling out on a paddle board.”
Lexi hails from Warrington, a small town just up the coast from Dunedin. Compared to the many world class spots in the region, Warrington Beach is, quite frankly, a pretty boring surf break. For a majority of the year, it’s unremarkable and shapeless – but Lexi knows it inside and out, and owes much of his success to the break and its soft waves. “When I was younger, I’d go home after school and surf anything because starting out, I didn’t know the difference between good waves and bad waves. I just surfed every day because I loved it so much.”
“Starting out, I didn’t know the difference between good waves and bad waves. I just surfed every day because I loved it so much.”
Perhaps if Lexi came from generations of surfers, he might not have bothered to surf most days at Warrington where the surf is inconsistent at best. But his parents were learning to surf at the same time, and they encouraged him to get out as much as possible, even in sub-par conditions.
“Living in Warrington made me a bit less picky,” he explains. “I’ve learnt to enjoy all waves no matter how bad it is – I just have to make the most of whatever I get. It can be so terrible that you can’t even stand up, but I still just want to get out there and have fun.”
Lexi has developed an uncanny ability to generate speed on even the weakest of waves, and excels in small mushy conditions. But he’s also just as good on large, powerful waves. Lexi explains that he owes it to the quality and variation of the waves around Dunedin. “If you only surf small waves, it’s hard to surf big waves well. So, living in Warrington, right near Dunedin made me a better all-round surfer because we get terrible waves in Warrington that I’m surfing all the time, and I’ve also got A-class waves all around the coast.”
Granted, it’s still hard to explain how Lexi has become a world-class surfer, given he’s only been surfing seriously for about seven years. Most of us have been surfing for far longer than that, and are nowhere near breaking out on the global, or even national level. But for those close to Lexi, especially his fellow Owen’s, it’s really no surprise. Along with Lexi’s older brother Jake, he has a younger sister, Zara, and a younger brother, Thomas, also both talented surfers. You would be hard pressed to find a more competitive family anywhere.
“Growing up with three siblings, we were always competing over everything, from school to surfing or even the most pointless things at home.” Lexi laughs. “They just make everything a competition, and I don’t like to lose. So that helped me grow a very competitive mindset.”
That competitive mindset translated well once Lexi and Jake started to surf, because they were always vying for that top spot and inadvertently made each other sharper competitors. “My older brother clicked with surfing pretty quick, and he was properly surfing probably a year before I was. The rivalry has been pretty intense since then,” Lexi grins. “It’s not as bad now, but when we were younger it was brutal. We were counting how many times we beat each other every season. He’d get up on me one season, I’d get up on him the next and that buzz really lit that competitive fire in me.”
“I definitely wouldn’t be so into surfing if it wasn’t for Jake,” Lexi reflects. “He’s been great, he’s always helped me out and now he’s always driving me to the beach. It’s sweet. Honestly, if I didn’t have my brother, I’d probably be playing football.”
“I definitely wouldn’t be so into surfing if it wasn’t for Jake. He’s been great, he’s always helped me out and now he’s always driving me to the beach. It’s sweet. Honestly, if I didn’t have my brother, I’d probably be playing football.”
Jake and Lexi’s incessant desire to get to the beach became apparent to me after a tricky day at Whareakeake along Dunedin’s north coast. A large swell and heavy current made it impossible to stay in position without constant paddling. For Lexi, who paddled non-stop and caught countless waves, it was a walk in the park.
The wind cut through my wetsuit like it was nothing as I walked up the beach to my car. I opened the boot to chuck my board in, mentally preparing for the steep drive ahead – Whareakeake’s dirt access road is long, steep, and windy – sketchy on the best of days. On one side is a steep cliff and a quick glance over the edge reveals the carcasses of two cars resting at the bottom of the valley. I put my car in reverse and noticed two groms marching past in their wetsuits, holding their surfboards. It was Lexi and Jake. To my surprise, they turned up the dirt road and quickly disappeared out of sight.
I bring this up and Lexi laughs. “We don’t have a four-wheel drive and my brother’s not the greatest driver sometimes, so my parents said we’re not allowed to drive down the road. We just want to get out there so bad, so we just end up walking the hill. Once you’re out there you forget about it until you have to walk back up,” he grins. “It’s about 20 minutes down to the beach and 30 minutes back up the hill. Even when it’s small and onshore it’s worth the effort, that wave is just so much fun.”
It’s easy to see that Lexi has the personality type to become a top-level surfer. For one, he loves to surf, above all else. That’s the important bit. But what sets him apart is his ultra-competitiveness. He has a drive to win like no other. When asked what he loves most about competing, his immediate answer comes as no surprise.
“Well, I love winning,” he grins. “I just love all competitive sports and the thrill of the competition. And I love surfing and want to make a career out of it, so that’s why I compete.”
“I love winning. I just love all competitive sports and the thrill of the competition. And I love surfing and want to make a career out of it, so that’s why I compete.”
Unsurprisingly, when it comes to winning and losing, Lexi has a winning mindset. Specifically, he understands that it’s just not possible to win every competition. There are just too many factors out of his control. So he’s learned to take those inevitable losses as learning opportunities, and now sees them as important steps in the process.
“Losing is the worst thing, but it’s also a great thing,” he contemplates. “During my first international competition in Australia I had a shocker. I couldn’t handle it and made lots of mistakes. I really had no idea what to expect going into it and I was scared the whole country was watching,” Lexi admits. “I was just overwhelmed I guess. It was a bummer.”
“Then during my first campaign at the 2023 ISA Worlds in Brazil, I did pretty average,” Lexi concedes. “I made just one heat and then lost. But the more you lose, the more you learn and you’re going to be better next time. The way I see it, if you lose, there’s usually something wrong, so you’ve got to try and figure it out. So I think losing is a good thing.” He laughs. “Well, a certain amount of it is a good thing.”
“Losing is the worst thing, but it’s also a great thing.”
“I actually think losing overseas was the one thing that improved my surfing the most,” Lexi continues. “Losing in Brazil really fueled me to try harder, and the whole time I was learning ways to improve by watching the guys who were winning heats. That was so important in my development leading up to El Salvador this year.”
And that clearly worked in Lexi’s favor, who went into 2024 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships far more confident, and with a new and improved competitive mindset.
“Leading up to El Salvador, I didn’t search up my competitors on my phone like I had done in Brazil,” Lexi admits. “That’s an easy way to lose your heat before you even start. If you think your competitors are better than you, you go out with a losing mentality. In El Salvador, I didn’t know who I was up against so I just went out there and did my thing. And I just loved the waves out there, they were so fun. It made it easy to let my surfing do the talking, and I wasn’t thinking as much.”
The ISA World Junior Surfing Championships is the world’s biggest junior competition. Each country gets to send three athletes in each age group per division. Lexi represented New Zealand in the Under 16 Boys comp this year, and went up against about 600 other surfers. It was a long and intense competition made up of six main rounds spread over ten days. Nearing the end of the competition, Lexi found himself in the final alongside the best Under 16 surfers on earth. To the delight of the New Zealand surf community, Lexi capped off an incredible stretch of surfing by placing as the number four Under 16 surfer in the world.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling of representing New Zealand on the international level,” Lexi reflects. “In El Salvador, it finally clicked and I felt like I did myself and my country proud.”
The novelty of it is certainly not lost on Lexi, who owes much of his success to his parents and the Dunedin surf community who help Lexi with travel costs.
“It’s definitely not cheap travelling across the world a few times a year,” Lexi admits. “Before my big trip to El Salvador, I was running all kinds of raffles to try and cover some of the costs. It’s such a great feeling whenever people chip in to help, not even a whole lot, even a little bit to show their support. I always think about them when I’m competing overseas,” he smiles. “Especially in El Salvador when I did well, I felt like I did it for them and not just me. I’m just so grateful for everyone who’s supported me.”
“It’s such a great feeling whenever people chip in to help, not even a whole lot, even a little bit to show their support. I always think about them when I’m competing overseas. Especially in El Salvador when I did well, I felt like I did it for them and not just me.”
“And my parents, too,” he grins. “They’re always driving me everywhere and paying massive amounts of money to get me overseas and everywhere else for the comps. I usually go to Aussie every year and we’re always going to the North Island. Sometimes they get a bit frustrated with how much it costs. But at the end of the day they love it, I guess. And they believe in me and support me in every way possible, even if it’s hard on them. They’ve made so many sacrifices.”
Lexi surfs more than just about anyone in Dunedin. Since he’s been at it so intensely for the past few years, he seems like a likely candidate for burnout. But due to a devastating 2019 arm injury that threatened to end his competitive surfing career, Lexi reckons he’s safe from burnout, for now. Instead, he’s focused on making the most of surfing while he’s still able to.
Lexi points to both sides of his left forearm and grimaces. “I was snowboarding a few winters ago and had a big fall. I was wearing wrist guards, and landed really hard on my arm. Both bones in my arm snapped, and I had three operations over three years to fix it.”
He then lifts up his elbow. “Then a year after my crash, a chunk of my elbow had come off, giving us two options: drill it back on or just leave it. We chose to leave it, but that was quite a scary time because I could either keep pushing my surfing with the risk that my elbow might give out, or essentially give up surfing. I obviously couldn’t let that happen so I took the risk, and so far, things have been alright.”
“That injury forced me into a break and since then, I’ve always tried to make the most of my competitions because I’d be out for six to 10 weeks at a time each year for four years straight. And I don’t know,” he pauses. “My arm could give out and then it will be all over. I just want to make the most of it.”
Lexi has indeed been making the most of Dunedin’s great waves year-round. He’s recently found himself running with a crew of Dunedin’s best young surfers, going on local missions and scoring up and down the coast. But things can get tricky when those mates are your biggest competitors during comps. For the ultra-competitive Lexi, he’s learned over time to make that important distinction between friends and competitors.
“I just try and leave it all in the water,” he explains. “It’s totally different on land, we don’t hold anything against each other if they beat me or I beat them. I’ve learnt not to let competition get in the way of my friendships, because things can go sour when it gets like that.”
“Overall it’s just been great having a bunch of mates that surf with you. It’s a lot more fun than being by yourself. And it’s always nice to have mates checking different spots so you know what’s good. We’re always scoring,” he smiles.
Outside the water, you’ll find that Lexi is just as competitive in anything else he does, and especially in the classroom. Lexi surprises me when he declares: “I really love school and trying hard. It’s weird,” he laughs. “I don’t know, I guess it’s because surfing might not last my whole life and I just love having something so different to competitive sport, just something a bit nerdy. And trying hard in school helps me take my mind off of surfing because it’s just so different.”
“I try as hard as I can in the classroom to be the best. I want to give myself the best possible future whether or not it’s in sport. I just want to do the best I can in everything.”
“I try as hard as I can in the classroom to be the best. I want to give myself the best possible future whether or not it’s in sport. I just want to do the best I can in everything.”
“And having smarts is really important in competitive surfing, too,” Lexi declares. “You can think things through a bit deeper, and learn stuff quicker. In comps, it’s not just about standing up on the board and doing the best, you’ve got to pick the right waves, time them with priority, and so many other factors come in. You’ve got to be really smart about what you do in the water.”
Lexi knows that surfing might not last forever. Although he’s certainly on the right trajectory, anything could happen. In any case, Lexi wants to balance his options to ensure the best future for himself. “I want to go to university, at least at some point in my life. I’m not sure when, first I want to make the most of my surfing while I can, and try as hard as I can with it. Then if that doesn’t work out, I’ll focus on going to university and getting a job. But I don’t want to give up on surfing straight away.”
The dream to become a professional surfer is very real for Lexi. He’s well positioned to continue representing New Zealand on the international stage, and he’s particularly motivated to make it happen. It’s that dogged determination that will send him to the top, and as we’ve all seen, it’s already started to pay off.
“Currently, I’m just excited to do my best,” Lexi explains. “I really hope to make the Olympics in four years. If I don’t make that, then I’ll really try and make it to the next Olympics after that. I’ll just keep growing and hopefully make the World Tour, too, and just see where the future takes me.”
For Lexi, with legitimate Olympic and CT ambitions, it seems like his biggest obstacle is living in New Zealand, and many of our top young surfers can certainly relate. “It’s a tricky process getting there from New Zealand,” he admits, “and I’m still trying to work that out. There’s not a whole lot of qualifying from New Zealand, so I’m going to have to commit to Australia. I’m definitely hoping to start competing on the QS in the next two years or so, and then see how that goes.”
“At the end of the day, I just want to be the best version of myself in surfing. I want to do myself proud and I would hate to half ass it and then regret not trying as hard as I could.”
Currently, Lexi might be the most promising young surfer in New Zealand. He’s certainly one of the most intriguing. But he might not be the last Owen to make a splash on the national and international level. His younger brother and sister, 10 and 11, are just as competitive as Lexi and are on the rise.
“Right now, I guess I’m doing for them what my older brother did for me – I’m teaching them and trying to help them as much as I can. They’re real competitive as well,” Lexi laughs. “They really want to do better than me and maybe win Worlds instead of just getting fourth. They’re actually just like me and Jake – if one does one thing, the other one has to really try and one-up them, so they’re always pushing each other. But the difference is they haven’t had to do as much to get to good waves. With my brother driving, we’re always going to the good beaches now. They usually tag along.”
Lexi and I have been talking for about an hour, and he’s barely moved his eyes from the ocean. I can tell he’s studying the waves, keeping track of each set, identifying sand banks that might offer the occasional section. The conditions haven’t improved a bit, but when I thank him for his time, he jumps up and grins. “I’ll see you out there.”
I walk back to my car to grab my wetsuit and board. Before I have a chance to change, Lexi runs past me in full neoprene towards the beach. When I reach the sand, I spot Lexi already on a wave, pumping furiously through a mushy section. I smile and walk about 50 yards further down the beach before paddling out. The surf is just as bad as it looked from the beach, and as the sun sets I paddle back in and head to my car. In the corner of my eye, I spot the silhouette of a small figure cutting back and forth along the face of a soft wave with impressive speed. Lexi hops off the back as the wave closes out, then disappears behind the whitewater, chasing that next wave before dark.