Professional Surfer Brianna Cope, Born with a Hand Defect, Doesn’t Let It Stop Her from Competing (Exclusive)

Professional Surfer Brianna Cope, Born with a Hand Defect, Doesn’t Let It Stop Her from Competing (Exclusive) https://ift.tt/7wBZ5OL

“I didn’t realize I had a deformity until I went to school and saw everyone with two normal hands,” Brianna Cope tells PEOPLE

Brianna Cope
Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Brianna Cope nearly qualified for the World Championship Tour twice after overcoming bullying for her hand deformity
• Surfing is her safe space, having taught her resilience, confidence and the importance of self-belief
• Cope recently completed a 77-mile run and 15-mile paddle around Kauai and is training for the Sydney Marathon

A professional surfer is revealing the importance of self-belief when trying to achieve your full potential.

Brianna Cope was bullied throughout her childhood for her deformed left hand. However, not allowing the birth defect to hold her back, she almost qualified for the World Championship Tour in 2014 and 2015 and represented Team USA for the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador, which served as a qualifier for the Olympic Games.

While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE, Cope, 31, revealed how being “delusional” with goals has helped her to defy expectations throughout her surfing career.

“My birth defect is rare because I have two tiny nub fingers and an L-shaped finger, but I have my pinky and a fully developed thumb,” Cope tells PEOPLE. “I have only met two people with a similar hand.”

Brianna Cope
Credit: MegaFood

“I was bullied a lot in school, especially elementary and middle school,” she continues. “I know kids are always teasing and making jokes, but I was already so insecure about being different.”

“My parents didn’t make it a big deal, so I didn’t realize I had a deformity until I went to school and saw everyone with two normal hands,” she says, jokingly adding. “I actually thought they were different, not me.”

Cope describes the teasing as “heartbreaking,” but she believes it gave her the ability to be empathetic toward others.

Growing up on Kauai, Hawaii, she was introduced to surfing by her father at age 4, and the sport became her “safe space.”

“Surfing became an outlet where I learned to turn something people saw as a weakness into strength,” she tells PEOPLE.

“There’s something about surfing that’s so freeing,” she continues. “Never riding the same wave again, conditions always changing, weather dependent. It’s one thing I can’t control and has taught me how to surrender and to be present.”

“Even with all the forecasting and thinking you’re gonna score a swell, the ocean always has a mind of its own,” Cope adds.

Brianna Cope
Credit: MegaFood

Cope describes herself as having always been a “very strong paddler,” while revealing her deformed hand has never hindered her in the water as she’s adapted her surfing style.

“I used to joke around saying having no fingers doesn’t give me any drag in the water,” she says. “In general, I have overdeveloped my trap muscle because I’m always compensating for grip issues when I’m training with weights or grabbing something heavy. I do a lot of mobility movements and corrective exercises to help.”

Cope reveals that somewhere in the years of focusing on herself, she stopped seeking validation from other people. 

“With surfing, my ultimate goal was to be a world champion on the World Surf League,” she says. “I dedicated my life to surfing and competing, and when that goal didn’t come to fruition, it was a really tough time, but it taught me so much. Everything I learned about resilience was through competing and always showing up. Surfing has given me the life I’ve dreamed up and taught me a lot about myself and discipline.”

“When you believe in yourself, and you believe in what you’re doing, confidence and resilience come naturally because you’re showing up for yourself and relying on yourself to make things happen,” Cope continues. “If things aren’t going how you want, you can always pivot and keep it moving.”

“Self-belief is a superpower. It’s okay to be a little delusional with your goals too,” she adds. “I’m always a big believer in trusting things will work out how they’re supposed to, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Anytime I’ve doubted myself or failed at something, it was actually just a turn in the road that led me to something bigger.”

Always chasing the next challenge, Cope says she’s already got her eyes on what’s next. 

“I’m running the Sydney Marathon in a few weeks (Aug. 30) and I’m also hunting big swells,” she tells PEOPLE. “Earlier this year, I was the first person to circumnavigate the island of Kauai all in one go, and that took me 29 hours (77-mile run, 15-mile paddle).”

“There’s something so freeing in doing something that hard and that challenging,” she adds. “I want to keep building off that momentum and keep pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.”

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Cope has been working alongside MegaFood to support her body’s health amid her active lifestyle.  

“I’ve been using their supplements for years, so it was a dream come true to work with them,” she says. “I’m so careful about what I put in my body and being able to have supplements made with real food is truly amazing.”

“MegaFood believes in the power of food and is planet-conscious, and as someone who grew up in Hawaii, those values are very important to me. I don’t have to question what I’m taking because I know MegaFood carefully sources its nutrients.”