Women Who Shred
In a sport predominately known for its male athletes, women have been, and continue to be a vital force and catalyst for change in shaping the trajectory of the sport.
From the early days of a defiant Hawaiian Princess to todays multi-title winners, women who’ve surfed through the decades are all connected through a common thread. They’ve defied odds, broke through boundaries, followed their guts, charged into the surfing history books.
Princess Kaiulani
In the early 1800s, American Missionaries tried in vain to eradicate the sport of surfing in Hawaii for its association with bare skin and gambling. Thankfully, they never succeeded. In fact, the defiant Princess Ka’iulani was an integral force in reconnecting her people to the sport and also introduced it to England where she surfed the English Channel.
Marge Calhoun
Born in Hollywood, CA in 1924, Marge, was an adventurous multi-water-sport woman who competed in swimming and diving, was an Olympic hopeful, a stuntwoman, and synchronized swimmer. She was not one to shy away from adventure and is considered to be the first female surfing champion. On a month-long surf safari in Oahu in 1958, she ended up winning the Makaha Invitational. “I was a big, strong woman and happened to enjoy big surf.” In 1961 she was the first secretary of the newly-formed USSA, and its first and only female judge.
Phyllis O’Donnell
Phyllis took up the sport of surfing at the age of 23 as a weekend activity while living in Sydney. In a field dominated by male athletes, she won her first women's title at the Australian invitational held at Bondi in 1963. The following year, she won both the Australian championship and the first Women's World Surf Championship. She won the Australian women's title again in 1965. Between 1964 and 1973, O'Donnell was Queensland's women's champion eight times, and during that period also represented Australia and defended her title in California and Hawaii.
Kathy Kohner
Kathy was just a girl growing up in the 50s and used to hang out and surf with friends at Malibu Beach. She kept a diary of her coastal exploits, which her dad used as inspiration for his book Gidget: The Little Girl with Big Ideas, that sold over 500,000 copies, was turned into a TV series and a number of movies and defined beach culture for generations to come.
Photo: History of Women’s Surfing / Duline McGough
Linda Benson
Linda was the first woman to ride Waimea Bay. She competed for 10 years in the ‘60s, winning titles in both the West Coast Championships and the US Championships. Growing up in Encinitas, California, at just 15 years old, she was the first female to ride Waimea Bay and win the first ever national US surfing contest in Huntington Beach. She also entered the International Surfing Contest at Makaha during the same year and as the youngest competitor, won.
With a groundbreaking 10-year surfing career and Hollywood stardom as a surf-double, Linda became the first female surfer to appear on the cover of a surf magazine.
Photo: Jim Russi
Rell Sunn
Known as "Queen of Makaha", Rell was a true pioneer in the world of women's surfing. She excelled at all water sports – surfing, bodysurfing, spearfishing, and open-water outrigger canoeing. She was instrumental in establishing the Women's Professional Surfing Association and founding the women's pro surfing tour in which she twice finished third. In 1977 Rell was honored by being named Hawaii's first female lifeguard. She often said, "The aloha spirit is real simple. You give and you give and you give . . . and you give from here (the heart), until you have nothing else to give."
Photo: Dan Merkel
Jericho Poppler
Raised in Long Beach California, Jericho considered ballet and jazz her passions and danced for years prior to getting into surfing which she dominated with a decade of championship titles from all over the world.
She was co-founder of the Women's International Surfing Association in 1974, co-directed the first Women's International Professional Surfing Championships and developed the Women's Professional Surfing Coalition.
Lynne Boyer
Born in 1956 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, raised in Maryland, Boyer began surfing at age 11 when the family moved to Hawaii in 1968. Lynne won the 1975 state championships and after high school she turned pro. She won the Hang Ten Pro Championships at Malibu in 1976, before settling onto the women’s tour. After two titles and numerous years in the top eight, Boyer quit the tour in 1985, admitting to a drug and alcohol problem. She continued to surf, but revealed in 1997 that, “It took 13 years of being sober to make it fun again.”
Photo: Bob Barbour
Margo Oberg
Margo was the first female professional surfer in the world. She won her first competition at the age of 11, her first world title at 15, and became the first professional female surfer in 1975. In 1976 and 1977 she was crowned Women’s World Champion after winning the Bell’s Contest, the Coke, the Brazil International and the Master’s in Hawai‘i. She finished 2nd in 1978 in the “closest world title race in women’s pro surfing history”. After taking a break in 1979, she returned to take the World Championship Titles in 1980 and 1981. Oberg was named one of the top 100 Women Sports Figures of the Century.
Photo: Randy Johnson
Kim Mearig
Surf journalist Bob Yehling described Kim as "Pretty, serene, stylish and athletic—the California beach girl about which dreams and movies are made." Born in 1963 in Apple Valley, California, Kim moved with her family to Santa Barbara when she was six months old, and began surfing at age 12. She at first had no interest in competition, but was talked into it by her parents, and encouraged by locals.
Kim rose through the amateur ranks, won the 1981 U.S. Championships and then turned professional the following year. Kim took the world by storm in 1983. She won the O.P. Pro in Huntington Beach and went on to dominate the year by clinching the A.S.P. Women's World Title. She spent the next eight years in the A.S.P. top eight – including two runner-up finishes – before retiring in 1991.
Photo: Tom Servais
Wendy Botha
Wendy is a four-time world champion (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992), and the first female surfer to twice regain the title. Born and raised in East London, South Africa, she began surfing at age 13, and won four consecutive South African National Championship titles from 1981 to 1984. She turned pro and finished the 1985 world tour season ranked seventh, earning rookie-of-the-year honors.
Lisa Andersen
Lisa began surfing as the only girl at the age of 13 in Ormond Beach, Florida. At 16, she ran away from home to Huntington Beach, California to pursue her passion and train with the best surfers in America. She entered and won amateur competitions and 35 National Scholastic Surfing Association trophies in eight months and, later, the US Championships in 1987 after which she became a professional surfer. She finished her first year on the tour ranked 12th and was elected Rookie of the Year.
After making competitive history as a single mom, Lisa’s signature feminine and graceful style with an aggressive energy set new standards for female surfers in a male-dominated sport. She edged out the beach bunny stereotype and led droves of young girls to the sport.
Prior to Andersen’s tenure, there were no girl’s board shorts or rash guards and barely any wetsuits for women. In fact, there was no Roxy. Lisa is responsible for creating a market for women’s surf gear.
Photo: Nikki Brooks
Sarah Gerhardt
Sarah grew up in cold water and in the mid-1990s in San Luis Obispo but then moved to Oahu where big-wave legend, Ken Bradshaw, pointed her toward North Shore's outer reef swell. In 1997, she and her husband, Mike, moved back to California, in Santa Cruz, and promptly set her sights on Mavericks. She quickly fell in love with the wave and in late February 1999, became the first woman ever to surf it. It was a pivotal landmark for women’s big-wave riding, and surfing in general.
Photo: Troy Snook
Layne Beachley
Layne became a professional surfer at the age of 16 and by 20 she was ranked sixth in the world. Beachley became the Women's ASP World Champion in 1998, and won the title again in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006. She is the only woman in history to gain 7 World Championships, and only surfer, male or female to win six consecutive world titles.
Keala Kennelly
A fierce and outspoken competitor in professional surfing. Keala is a truly gifted, and openly gay athlete who has voiced her opinion about the inequalities between male and female professional surfing. Not only has Keala received multiple championship awards, she’s pursued acting and DJ’ing.
Born in Ormond Beach, Florida, Keala went pro at the age of 17 and soon began surfing in the World Qualifying Series. In 1997, she was accepted to the World Championship Tour and quickly began earning victories with a string of successes at Teahupo’o, Tahiti in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
In 2011, after getting barreled in a memorial heat during the Billabong Pro Men's WCT, she was pushed down to Teahupoo's shallow reef and received a severe gash to the side of her face.
