Shore line- Carissa leads new wave of women surfers

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Shore line: Carissa leads new wave of women surfers

Shore line: Carissa leads new wave of women surfers

by Jake Howard, 11/03/2011

The surfing world watched with slack jaws as Hawaiian surfer Carissa Moore took victory at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast with a flawless perfomance. To those on the beach, it looks like a new era has dawned in the women's surfing scene. Jake Howard was there to see it...

Success doesn’t come overnight, it’s hard-earned. And for every monumental victory, there are a dozen heartwrenching defeats. Four years ago, Carissa Moore came into the Roxy Pro as a 14-year-old wildcard. She surfed into the semi finals before finally getting tripped up.

A huge result by most standards, she was devastated as only a teenage girl can be. But now, in her first season on tour since graduating high school, Carissa blitzed through the 2011 Roxy Pro and redefined women’s surfing in the process.

Grinding through heat after heat against the best women in the world, Carissa attacked the flawless four-foot Snapper Rocks surf with a smooth combination of arching, full-rail turns and progressive reverses, spins and fins-free releases.

Not only did she win the event but the consensus on the beach was that she’d ushered in a new era in women’s surfing.

"I think we’ve really seen a shift in women’s surfing.”

“I’m blown away by what we’ve seen here,” said Carissa’s father Chris, who sat on the beach biting his nails during the final. “Carissa was surfing so good throughout the whole event, as were a number of the young girls. I think we’ve really seen a shift in women’s surfing."

“All the girls are surfing amazing and we really saw it at this event,” confirmed the ever-humble Carissa. “It’s going to be an exciting year on tour. I just can’t wait to see what happens.”

It’s a long year, a lot can happen before the women finally pull into Hawaii in December, but one has to think that 2011 could very much be the year of Carissa.

“It’s still early in the season but the ASP Women’s World Title is definitely a goal,” Carissa concluded, looking very much satisfied with her progress thus far, understanding full well what it took to finally get here. “I’m just happy to be surfing the way I am and getting results.”