Many Australian female surfers tournaments end up being canceled at short notice. It led to irregular competitions, which is why the sport didn’t develop as quickly as men. Additionally, women make a lot less money than men do in surfing. Women competed for A$5,000 in the 1984 Beaurepaire Open, while men competed for A$95,000.
How many Australian female surfers are there? A third of Australia’s surfing population is female. Irregular competitions and lower earnings are among the reasons why the number of female surfers in Australia is lower than men.
In recent years, female surfers like Pam Burridge have been campaigning for equality between men and women in the sport. They have argued that there should be equal prize money for male and female surfers at competitions and equal opportunities to compete. This push for equality has gained traction in recent years. More and more people, particularly female surfers, are supporting the cause.
Australian Female Surfers Who Are World Champions
Pauline Menczer
Maicie Menczer began surfing at the age of twelve in 1982. In 1988, she won the women’s amateur world title at a competition held in Puerto Rico. Then in 1993, she became the women’s world champion. For many years, she competed on the world championship tour.
Wendy Botha narrowly defeated Menczer in the world championship in 1991 and 1992. But in 1993 Menczer dominated the competition to win the title of a female professional surfer. She competed in half of the competition finals that year and took first place in a quarter of them.
She did not receive a monetary award, and the trophy she was given was damaged. In 2002, she won the World Qualifying Series competition from Hawaii. She won 8 WQS events and 20 WCT events throughout her 20-year career.
Menczer wasn’t successful in requalifying for the 2005 World Championship Tour. Menczer was admitted to the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in March 2018.
Pam Burridge
Pam Burridge was born in Sydney in 1965, an Australian surfer who was a pioneer of women’s surfing in the country. In 1977, she competed in her first surfing competition. This started her many wins for national and regional titles in the years that followed.
Then in 1981, Burridge started competing internationally, and in 1990, she won the women’s ASP World Tour. She was admitted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a spot in 2017 on the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach.
After a break from competitive surfing from 1993 to 1996, Burridge resumed it in 1999 and now directs a surf school on the south coast of New South Wales.
Wendy Botha
Wendy Botha, a four-time world champion in surfing, was born on August 22, 1965. She won her first title in 1987 while still a citizen of South Africa. Later, after obtaining citizenship in Australia, she added three more victories in 1989, 1991, and 1992.
Botha was named Woman of the Year in 2009 and inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California. She was included in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in October 2018.
There Are Many Influential Australian Female Surfers
Aside from the three professional female surfers from Australia earlier, the country has produced many other influential female surfers. It includes Layne Beachley, Chelsea Georgeson, and Stephanie Gilmore, who have won multiple World titles in surfing.