While the 21-year-old fell to American Caitlin Simmers, 18, in the final, Picklum’s perfect score was nailed in what’s widely rated as one of the best-ever women’s heats on the Championship Tour against Hawaii-local Bettylou Sakura Johnson in a thrilling semifinal win. 

World No. 5 Picklum flew through the barrel on her backhand side to earn the only 10 in the women’s competition. 

“I feel like for me personally, there’s no more fitting place than Pipe to give me my first 10,” said the NSW surfer, who will also represent Australia at this year’s Olympics in Paris.  

“ I’m just so, so happy– 10 points, it’s hard to come by,” she said. 

“With the wave I needed a score and I know she’s capable of a 10, so I just took off and I just thought it’s got some draw to it and I may as well roll the dice and try.”

“But 10 points, I love it, I want more.”

In the end, Picklum finished with a score of 10.64,  behind Simmers’ 12.66 score. Nevertheless, even Simmers had praise to heap onto Picklum’s historic heat. 

“Molly’s a guru, she’s probably the best girl out here in my opinion,” said Simmers about Picklum. “One heat out here is like months of experience, and getting barrelled in a heat with your friend is the most fun thing in the world.”

Commenting on all of the “epic” performances of the day, Picklum wrote on Instagram after the event: “Wow what a day for women’s surfing. So inspired by the women before my time who charged and push the limits and of course my girls who are pushing it in todays generation.”

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“Pipeline is for the fucking girls!”

Despite this year’s epic performances from female surfers at Pipeline, women have only been allowed to surf the sport’s most challenging and dangerous wave since 2020.

Three years ago, Australia’s Tyler Wright claimed victory at the first women’s World Surfing League (WSL) tour event to be held at Pipeline. 

Before that, women surfed at a different Hawaiian location– Honolua Bay– for the findal event of the tour, while Pipeline was reserved for the men. Following a fatal shark attack during the 2020 Maui Pro, however, the women moved to Pipeline out of caution. 

Nevertheless, Picklum’s perfect 10 on the deadly wave seems to have cemented that “Pipeline is for the fucking girls,” as Simmers declared after her heat. 

“This wave is terrifying; I respect everyone who wants a part of it and everyone who doesn’t because it’s really scary out there,” said Simmers.

“It starts with all the girls that battled the guys and barely got any waves, and I hope that this event showed the girls can do it. We’re getting spat out all day, and it’s pretty cool to see. I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

The post Aussie surfer Molly Picklum scores first women’s perfect 10 at Pipeline appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Enever, 31, paddled onto a 43.6 foot (or 13.3-metre) wave at the Outer Reef break on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii in January. She did it without a tow by a jet ski. 

It was a significant milestone for women in big wave surfing, a traditionally male-dominated sport. Enever’s paddle broke the previous record for women held by Andrea Moller. Moller had held the record since 2016 and was the first woman to paddle into a wave at Pe’ahi.

Enever was presented with her Guinness World Record this week at her home beach at North Narrabeen in Sydney. 

“I knew it was big when I paddled into it,” Enever told the World Surf League (WSL). “When I took off, I looked down, and I knew it was definitely the biggest wave I’ve ever caught.”

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“I knew it was the wave of my life, the whole way it all came together and the way I committed, backed myself, told myself to go, and trusted I could do it. The ride was such a breakthrough for me and a moment that will be really special and monumental in my surf career,” Enever said on Thursday.

Enever spent 7 years as a pro-surfer on the WSL Championship Tour, before she left in 2018 to  pursue her love of big wave surfing. She now competes in WSL Big Wave events, continuing to push the limits for what’s possible for women in surfing.

In accepting the Guinness World Record, Enever acknowledged the legacy of women who have come before her in big wave surfing. 

“I would never be in this position if it wasn’t for the big wave surfers that have come before me and paved the way, especially the brave, courageous females that have always inspired me and made me feel like i could get out there and give it crack,” Enever said

“I’m just constantly in awe. Andrea Moller who held this record before me, she caught such a bomb at Pe’ahi that day and it’s such an honour to hold that record and keep pushing big wave surfing.

“I know that the next girls, the next generation of female big wave surfers are going to do the same.”

The post Laura Enever sets world record for largest wave ever paddled into by a woman appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Ewing rang the famous Bells Beach bell on Tuesday, after he won the final against Ryan Callinan. Ewing’s mother, Helen Ewing (née Lambert), won the competition at age 18 in 1983. Ewing said he has had his mother’s trophy on his bedside table his entire life. 

She was a pioneer in the women’s surfing scene, and died of breast cancer when Ewing was six years old in 2005.

Ewing said winning the Bells Beach trophy and being able to follow in his mother’s footsteps had been his biggest career goal. 

“I’ve had the trophy next to my bed pretty much my whole life and looked at that and dreamt of it, and seeing her name on the stairs, and now having my name there is so, so special,” he said.

“All my heroes have won this – Joel [Parkinson], Mick [Fanning], Kelly [Slater], the girls – Steph [Gilmore], Carissa [Moore], and then my mum back in ‘83. It is an honour to compete here. To put my name up there with her – it’s really special.”

The moment marked the first time a mother and son have ever won the same World Surf League event.

 “I’ve been thinking about her since I’ve been on tour. I wanted to do her proud,” he said.

The 24-year-old has also worn his mother’s name on his back to mark every International Women’s Day surfing event.

In an emotional moment after the win, Ewing said:  “I just want to say to everyone out there, tell your Mum you love them, because you never know what life throws at you.”

“Every International Women’s Day, @ethan_ewing has worn “Helen” on his back in honor of his late mum – an athlete who inspires him. Well, Ethan just won Bells 40 years after she did in 1983. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the entire crowd today . Congrats to the whole Ewing and Lambert families ,” Jessi Miley Dyer wrote on Instagram.

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In the women’s event, Australian Tyler Wright took home the Rip Curl Pro trophy for the second year in a row, winning over fellow Australian Molly Picklum, who managed to retain her position as World No. 1.

The post ‘Tell your Mum you love them’: Ethan Ewing wins Bells Beach trophy 40 years after his late mum appeared first on Women's Agenda.

This year’s event marked the first time women competed in The Eddie’s 39-year history, catching monster waves that exceeded 50-foot at Waimea Bay.

Andrea Moller, Keala Kennelly, Justine Dupont, Emily Erickson, Makani Adric and Paige Alms were the six women who competed alongside 34 male invitees.

Australia’s Laura Enever was named as one of the event’s “alternate” invitees but did not get the call up to compete.

The invitees to the big wave event were made up of some of the world’s best professional surfers and local surfing legends. They surfed in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, with women competing alongside the men, not in separate fields.

The event was won by a local lifeguard from the North Shore of Oaha, 27-year-old Luke Shepardson, who beat out favourite John John Florence. Shepardson was working as an on-durty lifeguard on Sunday, the day of the event, using his scheduled breaks to compete.

Keala Kenelly, one of the women taking part, is one of Hawaii’s most respected big wave surfers, and said competing in The Eddie was a dream come true and “history in the making”.

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“I grew up with Andy and Bruce Irons, and we had amazing big-wave role models,” Kennelly told Hawaii News Now. “But our ultimate hero was Eddie and this event, if you won The Eddie, you went to instant hero status.”

“I remember being a little girl thinking, ‘I want to be a hero like that one day, but that probably can’t happen for me because I’m a woman’.

“To actually be in here on this day and put on a jersey and paddle out … and now it’s not just me, I’ll be there with five of my other sisters, you’re watching history in the making.”

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The Eddie is in honour of Eddie Aikau, a legendary surfer from Hawaii and the first lifeguard on the North Shore of Oahu. Every competitor had the words “Eddie Would Go” on the back of their jersey.

This year’s event marked the first time the event was held in 7 years, and only the 10th time in almost four decades it has taken place because it only goes ahead if the surf is more than 40-foot.

In a post to Instagram, competitor Paige Alms wrote about what an honour it was to be chosen to take part in The Eddie, and what it meant for women in surfing.

“I am humbled, honored, fired up!!! and extremely proud to represent Maui as one of 6 female invitees and 34 men. The first time the event has run that the women will surf alongside the guys! It is going to be an amazing day celebrating Eddie’s legacy, big wave surfing, and the amazing camaraderie of ocean athletes,” she wrote.

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Surfing icon Layne Beachley shared her support for the women competing in The Eddie, writing: “History in the making!! Congratulations to you and the other 5 chargers! Stoked to see this happen in my lifetime and will be cheering you all on. Stay safe and have fun. You’ve got this.”

The post Women make history surfing 50-foot waves at The Eddie appeared first on Women's Agenda.

“Thank you to the sponsors for the money they’ve put into the event, but I would say It’s a bittersweet victory knowing that our surfing is worth half as much as the men’s prize money,” Small said in her acceptance speech, after winning the women’s competition at the North Curl Curl long board event.

“It took the same amount to drive here, flights were the same cost to fly here, accommodation cost the same and our surfing is worth half as much, so maybe we could think about that for next time.”

Small had just accepted a $1500 cheque for winning the long board surfing competition on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Her male counterpart received $4000 – more than twice as much.

Small posted a video of her acceptance speech to Instagram and has received a flood of media attention for calling out the inequality.

At the time, Curl Curl Longboarders Club secretary Phil Nicol defended the gap in the prize money and said it was more of a “moral issue”.

“Did we do anything illegal? No. This is a more, this is a moral issue…we’ve done nothing illegal,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.

The club has since taken on board the wave of feedback following Small’s comments about the prize money and said next year’s event will offer equal prize money to all participants, including those of varying age groups.

“We asked the question why aren’t the over-50 men jumping up and down because they didn’t get the same money as the men?” Nicol said.

“That’s ageism, the ageism card could have been pulled out.”

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“We just have to keep going, bit by bit by bit, until we eventually create meaningful change,” Small wrote in a post on Instagram. “We want equal recognition of women as legitimate athletes at all levels of competitive surfing.”

Small said she didn’t realise the female competitors at the Curly Maljam would receive less prize many than the men, and prior to the event she had just assumed the competition would fall into line with most other surfing events, where women now receive the same money as men. The World Surf League introduced equal prize money for women in 2019, but this event was not affiliated with the World Surf League.

Sydney-based surf retailer Global Surf Industries thinks so too and decided to step in to rectify the unequal prize money received by women at the event. The company donated $4850 to the Curl Curl Longboarders in order to cover the gap in prize money received by all the women’s prizes at the event.

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The post ‘Our surfing is worth half as much’: Lucy Small calls out prize money at surfing event appeared first on Women's Agenda.

At the Maui Pro in Hawaii on Monday, Wright made a statement as she became the first professional surfer to compete with the Progress Pride flag on her jersey.

In a post to Instagram, Wright said: “Today for me feels like another step in my realisation of my true and authentic self. As a proud bisexual woman of the LGBTQ+ community as well as an Australian, I’m delighted to be able to represent both this year on my competition jersey.”

“The number change to 23 represents, to me, a new phase of my career and my growth as a human. The Progress pride flag represents a love that opened my eyes more to who I really am,” she said.

“After a decade and two world titles, I’ve been evaluating what I do with my life and surfing career but more importantly, WHY I do it.”

While professional surfers usually wear the flag of the country they are representing on the shoulders of their jerseys, Wright has opted to compete with the Progress Pride flag, a more inclusive version of the traditional Pride flag. It features black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ+ communities of colour, and pink, light blue and white, which are the colours of the Transgender Pride Flag.

“I have an opportunity to show up and be exactly who I am,” Wright told USA Today. “This is how I want to show up in my surfing. I want to show up with my humanity first and foremost and with my values. My values are equality and inclusion, that’s what I want to represent.”

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Wright breezed through her heats, and went on to score a perfect 10 to defeat seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the quarterfinals. Gilmore was leading with less than 10 minutes remaining before Wright managed to pull off an impressive barrel ride to score the 10-point wave and take the win.

“The way it set up on the reef, I was like, ‘Oh, this is one of those ones that if you put yourself in the right spot it can work out really good’,” Wright said afterwards.

“There hadn’t been one of those all day. Once I saw it, I just went with the feeling, and then I celebrated a few times along the way.”

And the first Perfect 10 of the 2021 Season goes to… @tylerGwright. pic.twitter.com/rBwN5ZjUjG

— World Surf League (@wsl) December 8, 2020

As Wright shared on social media, she wants to remain at the top of the surfing world so she can continue to use her platform to have conversations about identity, and help others to feel safe expressing who they are.

“I want to win. I will win so I can continue to use this platform as a place to have conversations about identity, humanity and inclusivity,” she said.

“I’m blessed to able to have a platform in the @WSL, and I feel a responsibility to use it in a way to give voice and empower others. Hopefully, I can encourage others to embrace exactly who they are and to feel safe, expressing that in a way that is best for them.

“I’m looking forward to what I can accomplish this season and the conversations we can have as a community. I’m surfing with more intention than ever before.

“I have been truly loved and seen in this life, and it’s a sort of love that makes me feel like I can be exactly who I am. Forever humbled and always learning.

“Surfing is for everyone @wsl”

***

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The post ‘Surfing is for everyone’: Tyler Wright wears Pride flag and scores perfect 10 at Maui Pro appeared first on Women's Agenda.

But it’s been a fight to get to the top – leaving her with a mindset she needed to reset.

And it’s been a fight in the water, given the pay inequity, the sexism and the intimidation that women in surfing have faced.

In this podcast, Layne shares how she’s overcome fear and found a new approach to success. Lessons all of us can take on, even when not surfing 50 ft waves (as Layne has while big wave surfing!).

And she gives her thoughts on the progress occurring in surfing for gender equality, including the massive equal pay announcement back in 2018.

Layne has just launched the Awake Academy, an online learning platform heaping people to detach from fear and take control of their lives.

The Women’s Agenda Podcast is produced by Agenda Media, a 100% female owned and run media business. Subscribe on iTunes and Spotify.

You can also check out our second podcast, The Leadership Lessons, hosted by Kate Mills: conversations with female leaders on the critical decade ahead.

The post Layne Beachley: Surfing’s greatest talks fear & gender equality appeared first on Women's Agenda.

She is now the World No. 1, taking the title from reigning world champion Steph Gilmore.

Fitzgibbons prevailed 14.64 to 12.57 over the USA’s Carissa Moore in Rio, using her priority in the last 30 seconds of the final to snatch the last wave and ensure the win.

The victory is Fitzgibbons’ first in a couple of years, her last being the 2017 Margaret River Pro.

Fitzgibbons now leads the world rankings, and comes in ahead of fellow Australian Steph Gilmore, now ranked third,  as well as her opponent Moore who comes in at 2nd.

‘‘It feels pretty delightful,’’ Fitzgibbons said after the win in Rio.

‘‘Just coming in and receiving that welcome back to the beach, that was insane, and some of my mates cheering me up the beach and a big hug from my dad.”

‘‘And I know my mum’s watching out there with all my family and friends, and just the team that had my back, so it’s all part of the process and they’ve all chipped in and it’s pretty cool to be standing here.’’

Congratulations @Sally_Fitz, winner of the 2019 #OiRioPro and the new @Jeep leader! @oi_oficial pic.twitter.com/pRfQzKFxS6

— World Surf League (@wsl) June 23, 2019

Our Aussie women are on Congratulations @sally_fitz on the incredible win in Rio last night!! Epic fight against your rival @rissmoore10 You are where you were worn to be…. World Number 1!!!!! https://t.co/yY2uDC4clO

— Layne Beachley (@LayneCBeachley) June 23, 2019

It’s not just Fitzgibbons that Australians are feeling immensely proud of right now.

Over the weekend, we watched Ash Barty rise to the top of tennis, becoming World No 1 after an impressive couple of months. She’s the first Australian woman in 43 years to hold the top spot. Barty won the French Open earlier this month and is now set to play Wimbledon.

Despite Barty’s astonishing effort, she remains humble and insists her new ranking is a team effort.

“It has just been the most amazing journey for myself and my team,” she said. “We have got to this point by doing all the small things right. It has certainly just been the most amazing month of tennis for us.”

In the same 24 hours, Perth’s Hannah Green claimed her first major title in the golfing world, winning the Women’s PGA Championship in Minneapolis.

She’s the first Australian woman to win a major title in 13 years, an impressive feat considering she was relatively unknown a year ago. Green is only 22 years old and this was the first time she has even contested a major.

In the midst of heartbreak after the Matildas’ devastating exit from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, after a solid performance, Australia has a lot to celebrate.

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