Seventeen-year-old Alana Blanchard from Kauai, Hawaii, spends most of her time in the water--and that's not just because of the beautiful weather. Alana's making waves as an up-and-coming surf champion. She's already placed first in some major competitions like the Rip Curl Gromsearch Championship, the Hawaii Amateur Surfing Association State Championship and Town and Country's Women's Pipeline Masters Competition.

Alana took a break from her crazy surfing schedule to chat with us about her first steps on a surf board, what it's like to travel the world and how it feels to win big.

Click below to see a slideshow of this gURL's surfing life.