Talia Gangini hails from the beautiful island of Maui where she’s spent a good portion of her life honing her stand-up and surfing skills. Stand Up paddling is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world and Talia has quickly made an impression on the competitive circuit with her fierce athletic ability and endurance.

At the age of 14, Talia became the youngest woman to cross the 32-mile Kaiwi channel during the Molokai to Oahu race with Joss Mitchell. All together Talia has paddled that channel 7 times! In 2011 she completed the race solo placing 3rd overall and breaking the record by 30 minutes!

As much as Talia loves to compete, her true passion is the lifestyle and travel that surrounds surfing and Stand-up. Talia recently went to the Namotu, Fiji for a trip with Stand Up Magazine, a personal trip to the Philippines and plans to head to South Africa in December. Talia also got to experience Baja, Mexico for the first time when she met up with Alana Blanchard for her first Reef shoot.

When she’s not in the water or en route to her next destination, Talia is working on her company with her sister called Pashey Designz. The creative duo design and sew their own bikinis and create one of a kind jewelry using shells and beach glass they collect from home and abroad. In 2009, Talia set another record when she became the youngest designer to have her jewelry, modeled by Bar Rafaeli, on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue!

Take a look about her Web Site: http://taliagangini.blogspot.com/