They make it look easy, but any surfer will tell you it's a challenge. Which is why when Quincy Symonds, 7, of Coolangatta, Australia, surfed her first wave at 4 years old, the surfing community was amazed.

"It is quite unusual for someone to start so young," said Jessi-Miley Dyer, World Surf League Women's Commissioner. "I think she is definitely special. It looks like she has a strong connection to the ocean and it's something she enjoys."

Quincy's parents remember how quickly that connection was formed. "Quincy just did not want to get out of the water," her father, Jake Symonds, said. "The only way we could get her to leave was to promise that she'd get to go back again tomorrow."

She rapidly picked up the fundamentals of the sport and began competing in local competitions within a year of her first surf. Onlookers were surprised that Quincy was unfazed by waves double her size. "She just kept smiling and laughing no matter how many times she fell off. It just didn't matter. It was just so much fun," her mother, Kim Symonds, said.