Meet Helena – a MYMARINI Lady

Lives in: Haha I ask that question to myself as well sometimes  I’m living all over but in general in spend the European winters in Capetown, and during the summers I normally travel or work elsewhere. Before I had spend my summers in Holland but last season I was living in Sri Lanka and this summer I will be spending both in Holland and Italy where my partner and I just rented an apartment.

Passions: My greatest passion is Yoga, Surf, Kitesurfing, freediving and Hiking. I love nature and all that it offers so I have a deep connection with water and mountains.

Favorite spots: I have a lot of favourite spots! In South Africa there are so many wild places and desolated areas like for example the Kalahari, I love desserts!, but it also has endless mountains and beautiful white beaches with even more beautiful waves! The Wild Coast of South Africa is absolutely my number one! There you will find waves, clear water, hills full of authentic “Rondevaal huisjes“ where people still keep their old traditions alive, and further up North the Drakensbergen are situated which will most definitely take your breath away. Here you can raft, hike and close to the Freestate there is also a lot of proffesional freediving going on…

Outside of SA my favourite places are defintely San Sebastian, Croatia and Scotland.

You help run a kite guesthouse in Cape Town and Sri Lanka? Tell us about this:
In the winters I’m situated in Capetown where I help my partner with running his guesthouses. The guesthouses are located right at the beach and is attracted to a lot of Kitesurfer and surfers. Besides this I taught yoga on request and started cooking at Helena’s. I love cooking and being creative so this was my favourite way of taking care of our guests. Seeing the table full of beautiful food and happy faces fills my heart.

In the summers it’s travel time, I try to travel to places like India or to see friends in Europe and for the rest I fill the summer up with work back in Holland. Last season however we got asked to run a resort in Sri Lanka for a few months which was a great experience. Here I was focusing on how to incorporate wellness into the resort and taught Yoga every day.

My partner was running the Kiteschool and the staff. The amazing thing about Sri Lanka was that I finally got the chance to practise kitesurfing in the most easy conditions so I really started to love it! The resort was situated by the beach next to a lagoon that stretched out between mangroves for a good hour. I often took people on a tour with the StandUpPaddleBoard to admire the silence and lush or we went out to the ocean to snorker or freedive in search for dolphins and whales.

This summer I’m focussing on a project for myself and to deepen into my selfpractice of yoga and meditation. So at the moment I’m busy with studies in Holland and flying up and down to Italy where my partner recently started his new job.

You participate at a SUP race in Venice, how did you get this chance?
Yeah this was super cool! My partner works for a watersportbrand Roberto Ricci Design as the marketing coordinator and whenever I can I try to help out. I love the company and everyone who is working there so it was so much fun to be part of this event as well, especially as it only happens once every 2 year regarding the diffiulties with the licenses. Only a selected group was invited to be part of SurfinVenice2016 and it started of as guided tour through the old city and ended with a race to cross the big channel. The number one rule, don’t fall in! I luckely didn’t!

How did you discover MYMARINI?
My dear friend Christin  that I met in Capetown introduced me to Mymarini. She and I know each other for a few years now and one day she showed me her new “findings“. I loved the fact that the suits are so feminine and at the same time perfect to use for surfing. My friend Chris came to visit me later in Sri Lanka and asked if I could be her model for a casual lifestyle shoot. We had so much fun together and after wearing the suits I was hooked to the brand. The fact that it is small scale, handmade , and the story of how Christine and Mareen have met I find very inspiring. I have a few mymarini’s now and I don’t want a life without them! For every sport that I practise they are just perfect and I often wear them as just a top with trousers or a skirt, and I have to thank Chrissie for that!

Your favorite MYMARINI is? Why?
My favorite Mymarini is the SEABODY it’s sexy, oldschool, reversable and even better than a rashvest when it comes to surfing. I always get compliments about the cut of the suit and it really makes everyone look good!

 All photos by our dear friend and talented Christin Schwarzer.