The surfing world has always celebrated its pioneering women who have carried the torch for gender equality. In recent history, Carissa Moore is one name that comes to mind. She became the first woman in 2020 to win the Olympic gold medal in women’s short board surfing. She is once again headed for a repeat performance in the upcoming performance. Moore is carrying on the glorious tradition of women’s dominance in the surfing world that began with a young Welsh woman in 1967.

Linda Sharp is a trailblazer in surfing. She was the first and only woman to brave the raging waves around the Welsh coast. She engaged in the sport when few women considered it an option. However, she fell in love with surfing at 15 years of age and continued to pursue her passion despite many challenges. As a 70-year-old in 2023, Sharp still inspires confidence with hair-raising tales of her adventures.

Linda Sharp inspires with decades of daring surfing adventures

Linda Sharp competed in many surfing competitions during the 20 years of her professional career. She got no sense of thrill from competing in the events as a woman since she won by default. Therefore, she took part against the men, and this way, she won many European, British, and even Welsh titles. Linda Sharp did not have a wet suit until 1968, and she even had to sell off her dear bicycle to buy her first surfboard. Sharp reminisced about the first time she bought a wet suit, which was more like a scuba diving suit. Speaking to BBC News, she explained that the “beaver tail” flap design was unsuitable, as “if you had a bad wipeout your trousers would just fly off”. But the lack of a wet suit was a small part of her problem.

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Linda Sharp remembered how the surfers would frequently fall sick because of the waste dumped into the oceans. Even now, 11-time world champion Kelly Slater protests against polluting the waters. Sharp saw many Welsh blokes get “flesh-eating diseases and things like that” that put their lives in danger. If fighting against life-threatening diseases wasn’t enough, she had to face humiliation and sexism, too.

Linda Sharp combats sexism

The surfing legend entered her first competition in 1975 against men with a show of force before the organizers. She said, “I’m not getting a title for not surfing,” as she would win by default with no women to compete against. However, when the Welsh woman reached the semi-finals, she was unceremoniously chucked out of the competition. All the men that she had already beaten continued in the competition. She tried her best to popularize the sport among women, but nobody showed any interest.

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Finally, in 1976, she got the chance to compete in her gender category with an invitation to the Women’s International Surfing Association. WISA formally invited Linda Sharp to pursue surf tours internationally, but she didn’t have the means to pay for them. Now, as a 70-year-old woman with arthritis and a bad hip, she can no longer pursue her beloved surfing passion. However, that love for the waves and their thrills is still visible in her eyes.

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