One month ago we caught up with UK freestyler Max Rowe in the wake of perhaps his first major windsurfing injury. Breaking his ankle, he has been off the water for quite some time now so we checked in to see how he is coping in paradise and when he plans to be back to action.

BOARDS: How have you been killing time in the last weeks and anything special to speed up recovery?

MR: Well I’ve probably got the best tan I’ve ever had! Lots of time relaxing and hanging at the beach but also exploring the island a little bit more has been interesting. I’ve also been caddying for my girlfriend so I’ve been rigging up most days so who knows maybe that will help to speed up my recovery 😉 

BOARDS: We heard you are out of the boot, when are you expecting to be back on the water by?

MR: Yeh I’ve been out the boot for around a week now so that’s pretty exciting considering the doctor told me he wanted me to be walking in it still on the 11th January…. It feels like everyones just scared of getting sued in America so they’ll always try to be extra careful. Luckily I found a good physio and she got me walking without it and assured me considering the simple break it perfectly normal to get using it again. Hoping to start easing myself back on to the water around the 8th January. 

BOARDS: What’s the rehab regime and how badly are you wanting to return to the water?

MR: Well I’m pretty desperate. I’ve even been laying around on my longboard just riding waves on my belly which has help to keep me sane. It hasn’t been easy as it has been firing here the last month! With the rehab regime I feel I’m pushing as much as possible for the time being but still need to keep all my movements relatively straight forward. I’ve been up at the Deep Relief training centre in Haiku about three times a week and also doing my daily exercises to help get me back asap so will just stick at that until I feel like I’m ready. It’s tough especially with the freestyle as the movements are so explosive so I know even though its probably going to feel good enough to sail pretty soon it might take a while before I’m back at the level where I want to be. 

Max is sponsored by Fanatic, North, Ion, sungod.co and catruggedphones.com. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in action very soon.