Riding their Waves: Honoring the Women Who Shaped Surf Culture
This Women's History Month, we want to celebrate the surfers, pioneers, and rule-breakers who carved a path through the water.
The Pioneers
Isabel Letham (1899-1995)
Legend Duke Kahanamoku brought Isabel into the spotlight the day he pulled onto his board in Freshwater Beach, Australia in 1915, tandem-surfing in front of a crowd of thousands. Isabel Letham was 15 years old and from there made surfing her passion, making her the first woman riding a surfboard in Australia. She spent the rest of her long life teaching generations of Australians to swim and surf, and was honored with a bronze statue at Freshwater Beach that stands there still.
Image: Australia National Surfing Museum
Marge Calhoun: The Mother of Women's Competitive Surfing
In 1958, Marge Calhoun became the first woman to win a major open surfing contest as Makaha International title in Hawaii. Paddling out in serious swell with no prize money, and no female division. She won. Calhoun later became one of the most respected big-wave surfers of her era, and her daughters both went on to surf competitively.
Joyce Hoffman: America's First Surf Superstar
From 1963 to 1971, Hoffman, a Capistrano Beach native, dominated women’s surfing competitions across the globe. Winning the United States Surfing Championships four consecutive times and becoming the first professional woman surfer to gain mainstream media attention.
She appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1966, fast, technically precise, and the US’s first champion.
Building the Women's Tour
Rell Sun: The Queen of Makaha
“Before I could read, I could read the ocean. I knew the tides; I could read the wind on the ocean. I thought I knew everything I ever needed to know just from being on the beach every day.”
Rell Sunn was many things: a professional surfer, a lifeguard, a hula dancer, a waterman in the fullest sense of the Hawaiian word. She won the first-ever Women's World Surfing Championship in 1975 and went on to become one of the most beloved figures in Hawaiian surf culture. up until her passing in 1998. The Rell Sunn Menehune Surf Contest, held annually in her honor, carries on her spirit of aloha.
Lisa Andersen: The Cover That Changed Everything
In 1996, Surfer magazine ran a cover of Lisa Andersen with the headline: "Lisa Andersen Surfs Better Than You." It was not an exaggeration. Andersen had won four consecutive World Surf League titles from 1994 to 1997 and had transformed women's surfing from a niche division into a global phenomenon.
The Big Wave Riders
Layne Beachley: Seven Times the Best in the World
Seven World Surf League Championship titles, six of them consecutive. From 1998 to 2003, she was unbeatable. Then started big-wave surfing, charging serious surf at spots like Jaws in Maui and Todos Santos in Mexico.She founded the Aim for the Stars Foundation to support women in achieving their dreams, and has spent decades advocating for gender equity in surfing.
Keala Kennelly: A Different Kind of History
In 2016, Keala Kennelly became the first woman to be nominated for the XXL Big Wave Awards' Ride of the Year, surfing a massive, terrifying barrel at Teahupoo that would have earned the respect of any surfer, anywhere, in any era.. Kennelly has also been open about the challenges as a gay woman in professional surfing, and her advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion in surf culture has made her an important voice far beyond the water.
The New Wave: Icons of the Modern Era
Carissa Moore: The Competitor's Competitor
Five World Surf League titles. An Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, the first time surfing appeared at the Games. A competitive drive and technical precision that has made her the most consistent performer in women's surfing for over a decade. Founder of Moore Aloha, a nonprofit focused on building confidence and resilience in young women through surfing. She embodies the truth that elite athletic achievement and deep community are the the same value.
Bethany Hamilton: Resilience Embodied
Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack at age 13 and back in the water within a month. Within two years, she had won a national surfing title. The story of her return to surfing is extraordinary, and it has inspired millions.
The women featured here competed without equal prize money and advocated until it changed, surfed waves that were supposed to be too dangerous, and . built careers with a level of skill and grace that demanded to be seen.nThe ocean is a place of healing, transformation, and belonging. It always has been. And part of honoring that belief is honoring the women who make sure that was true for everyone who paddles out.
