By Jake Howard
If Taj Lindblad isn’t careful, his little sister’s going to knock him right off the podium. Surfing in the NSSA Southwest Conference contest at Seaside Reef a week ago, young Sawyer Lindblad battled her way to a third-place finish in the Open Girls division and a very respectable second-place finish in the Open Super Girls. The contest results come in the wake of a busy summer and fall for Lindblad. She’s been participating and training with the U.S. National Development Surf Team, which has provided her with ample competitive experience and could be a pathway to bigger and better accolades in the future. She’s also recently picked up the support of women’s surfwear brand Roxy, adding their iconic logo to the nose of her board. With luminaries like world champions Lisa Andersen and Stephanie Gilmore leading the way for her, it makes sense that she’s “beyond stoked” to join the Roxy team. A graceful, fluid goofy-footer with a potent forehand hack, between Sawyer and her brother Taj, San Clemente has a dangerous brother-sister duo that’s already good and seems to get better with every heat they surf.