‘I nearly drowned’: How 13-year-old Leihani Zoric conquered fears to win a national title

Leihani Zoric presses her fingertips to the top of her surfboard, heart pounding and saltwater stinging her lips as she waits for the perfect wave.

“C’mon Leihani, I know you can do this,” the 13-year-old whispers to herself. “You’re good enough, you can do anything in the world. I believe in you.”

Paddle. Stop. Paddle. Wait. Zoric repeats her mantra, willing her positive-self affirmation to become reality.

“Sometimes, when there’s heaps of pressure, you’re not winning, there’s a couple of minutes left and no waves are coming, I talk to myself,” she tells this masthead.

“I do use that quite a bit, even when I’m doing well in the heat, I’ll still use it to keep pushing myself to get better and better each wave.”

On Sunday, Zoric triumphed at the Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles, winning the junior girls and the open women’s divisions at wind-whipped Bells Beach.

It was the second consecutive time the Bryon Bay prodigy had won both titles.

Zoric is a striking figure, in and out of the water. While waiting for the competition to start, the 13-year-old dons a bright pink unicorn beanie while warming-up on the sand.

Halfway through the women’s final on Sunday, Zoric has not caught a wave. Finally, the perfect one comes and the 13-year-old explodes into action. Driving down the face, gathering speed before snapping off the lip, she sends a curtain of spray skyward.

The swell gathers height, and Zoric feeds off its energy, producing impressive snaps and carve-ups, scoring eights and nines.

At just 13 years old, she is building an impressive resume. A proud Yued Yorga woman from Bundjalung Country, she has won multiple state titles and championships, including Surfing Australia’s prestigious rising star award in 2025, following in world champion Molly Picklum’s footsteps.

It all makes sense when you consider her lineage. The teenager hails from a family of surfers. Her mother Kirsty is a Western Australian state champion.

When Zoric was just two days old, her father and grandfather placed the tiny newborn on a surfboard at Broken Head Beach in northern NSW.

“The waves weren’t big, so it was like perfect conditions for me, and I had nothing else to do,” Zoric laughs.

“They took me down on this little surf mat they had bought for me, and then my dad was holding me, and my mom was filming and then my pa was standing next to my dad … I had the biggest smile on my face.”

For Zoric, surfing feels like home – she feels a deep connection to country and her family’s culture the second she steps into the ocean. Her chosen individual totem is a dolphin –