Isabella Nichols wears a tiny bit of her heart on her sleeve. Sketched in tattoo ink on her right forearm is the outline of a mini Viking ship. It’s a salute to her mormor – her Danish grandmother – her birthplace of Denmark and Viking heritage. But it is also a reminder of the warrior spirit that keeps her afloat as she seeks to establish herself among the world’s elite surfers.
“My grandma was part of a Viking club,” Nichols says. “Every morning – rain, hail or shine – all the women of the club would go down to the beach, strip naked and go for skinny dips in the ocean. Even if the ocean was frozen over, they’d use ice chisels to poke holes in the ice. She did this up until she was about 85.”
