Special to SURFER from Serene Gunnison
In May 2024, Maui waterwoman Olivia Jenkins discovered she had stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Just over a week later, teenage surfer Maia West received a diagnosis of Ewing Sarcoma Cancer. And in June 2024, professional windsurfer and photographer Amanda Beneen was told she had Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, breast cancer.
As fit, healthy young athletes from Maui’s north shore, the diagnoses came as a cruel shock. Before cancer, the three were often found at Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui’s watersports hub: Olivia surfing the Point’s punchy righthanders with her partner Ian Walsh, Maia training for the next Hawaii Surfing Association contest at Pavillions, and Amanda shooting from the beach. But suddenly the women were thrust into uncharted waters. Treatment carried them to different corners of the country.
But even in the hardest moments, each of them found strength through community. Two years later, all three women are back on Maui and back in the surf. Below, they share their experiences.
Amanda Beneen:
“I got diagnosed in June 2024. It was kind of a weird time because I had just had a divorce… I was like, I’m starting over fresh, and then I got f—king diagnosed. That was kind of brutal.
The first six weeks… it was just like, what am I gonna do? But I was super lucky to have such a cool community around me. My friends really rallied for me. People I had never met donated. It’s not about the money. It’s that people cared.
I went to LA and started treatment… chemo, surgery, double mastectomy, reconstruction, radiation… It’s been a year and a half, and now it’s almost done.
I remember coming home and sitting in the tide pools and crying, just so happy to be in the ocean. And the first time I surfed, I cried too. Being in the water made me feel like a normal person. It made me feel not sick.
There were days I was depressed. But the challenge is not getting stuck there. Treat it as a moment, then choose the next moment.
When I got diagnosed, I made a conscious choice. I refuse to be a cancer patient. I will live my life. I’ll go to the gym, go walk, go run, go surf, go out with my friends, whenever I can. I think that’s what got me through. My mindset was what got me through it. I really believe that.”
Matt Cibulka
Maia West:
“I was born on Maui. I did my first contest when I was seven, the Menehune Mayhem. Then I competed with the HSAs, did a couple of NSSAs in California, and the ISA junior qualification in Canada. That was the last contest I did. Then I got diagnosed. I was 15. Ewing’s Sarcoma Cancer, in the rib somewhere.
I had to move to Cleveland. We did two rounds [of treatment] on Oahu, then the rest of them in Cleveland.
Living in Ohio for a year was so crazy. It was pretty hard to be away from the ocean, but I feel like it was shorter than it seemed. I’ve had a few surf sessions since I’ve been back, and it’s like riding a bike.
I made a few friends in Ohio. I went to church and did a youth group, but the community is just so different. Maui’s so tight-knit, especially the surf community. Everyone was so supportive, like Kai Lenny’s family, Ian Walsh’s family, and Shawna Dukes.
I think [if you’re going through cancer], find the positives in every little community, whether that’s like your academics or athletics. Being a cancer survivor, I never really talk about it, even with my friends. I didn’t want to be labeled as that because I got it so young. I’m just grateful now. I don’t take things for granted. And I’m grateful to live on Maui.”
Related: In and Out of the Water, Ian Walsh is a Force of Good on Maui
Olivia Jenkins:
“I was 30 when I was diagnosed. I’d been dealing with a lot of chronic back pain for a long time, and finally, I planned for surgery. The week before the surgery, I got a chest x-ray. That actually caught the cancer, which is crazy. I had no symptoms. It was stage 2A Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin’s lymphoma. So we moved to LA for treatment.
Not being able to get in the ocean was one of the hardest parts. That’s my place. If I’m having a hard day, I go jump in the water, and suddenly I couldn’t.
So I switched my mindset. I know I can’t get in the ocean, so I need to find another outlet. That became movement… hiking, biking, walking. That became my sense of peace.
It’s very easy to get into that place of like, woe is me. I want to stay in bed all day. But if you can get outside and move, it makes the process so much easier. I had Ian pushing me, like, no, we’re getting up, we’re going for a walk.
Maui is my happy place, and I’m really glad I didn’t go through treatment here. It was kind of nice that nobody here saw me in those really dark moments. I could come home and just be me again.
That first time I went back in the ocean, it was terrible conditions, closing out. I was on a longboard catching the tiniest waves sideways, but it felt so good. I had so much joy. Before, I never would have appreciated that. It’s just finding the joy in the little things. I really appreciate those moments now.”