Red Bull Australia

Layne Beachley didn’t mince her words when she declared that Sally Fitzgibbons would make it all the way to the top – but the truth of this statement must have been small consolation for Layne as 18-year-old Sally smashed it at Bells Beach, knocking the surf legend out in their third-round heat.

Sally’s debut on the ASP World Tour got off to a rocky start when a back injury forced her out of the first event after just one round. “You want to start your first event strong and I was really hungry for it, so to pull up like that was devastating. It’s taken months to get over it – I’m still working on it – and it took a lot of hard work to get into the water for Bells Beach,” she says.

Sally finished third place overall in that second event and is looking forward to the next leg of the women’s world tour campaign later this year.

With three junior world titles under her belt, Sally decided to “have a crack” at qualifying for the world tour in 2008. It was a year that dreams are made of as the girl from Gerroa nailed the first five events of the season, qualifying in record time.

A natural athlete who has competed in cross-country running, soccer and touch football, Sally is still coming to grips with being at the elite level of her favourite sport. “It’s still amazing to say I’m on the world tour. I’m not a spectator any more, not a wild card – it’s a really amazing feeling,” she says.

As for those declarations that she’s the next big thing, Sally says they spur her on. “It’s a great feeling to have that said about me because my dream is to make it to the top one day,” she says.