Lisa Andersen Women’s surfing sucks
I’m not ready to meet her. Not just yet, anyway.
Lisa Andersen is waiting for me to rock up, Dictaphone and hackneyed questions at the ready, and I’m stalling. As the first lady of surf, the thirty-nine-year-old inhabits a spot in our collective conscious reserved solely for those who make history. Icons, legends, paragons of talent – whatever the label, it’s intimidating stuff.
Just check the credentials. Claiming four world titles and total ownership of the women’s tour between 1994 and 1997, Lisa was the only woman man enough to obliterate surfing’s monoculture of masculinity. As the poster child for Roxy, her saltwater prowess coupled with the brand’s pioneering boardshorts helped unite power and grit with sass and sex. In short (short shorts, in fact), Lisa Andersen made it okay to be a girl who surfs.
That’s gotta take some balls, right? “I grew up with brothers and was used to taking beatings,” says Lisa, too chilled to intimidate anyone. “I tried to learn from them and in turn got a lot of crap, but at the end of the day earned respect. Instead of rebelling against their views on women’s surfing I agreed with them, ‘Women’s surfing sucks!’ Deep inside I was pissed off, but that just drove me to do good.”
And do good she did, all the while proving that women’s surfing does indeed not suck. But what did the girls make of her killer instinct? “When I was younger a lot of the older girls told me I was cocky and unapproachable. It’s tough when you’re travelling away from home, you don’t have any friends and you’re really competitive – it’s lonely out there. You wanna make sure that along the way of being world champion you don’t step on anyone’s toes.”
Having cleared a place for girls in the line-up, Lisa stood down from competitive surfing in 1998. A brief return in 2000 saw her defeat rival Layne Beachley one last time. Thing is, can a champion ever take that final bow?
“I’m forever looking at Kelly winning,” says the fellow Floridian. “He’s reminding me all the time that it’s so close – but kind of a long road to train and get all that back. When I finished I was in a good place. I wouldn’t wanna go and scar that up, try and make a comeback and completely fail.”
Today, Lisa’s name is firmly engrained in surfing’s DNA. Question is, does she wear the ‘legend’ label with ease?
“I get a little weird about it,” says Lisa. “But I was always a goal-oriented person so it may have been in there somewhere that I wanted to be remembered. But I feel bad when little kids are afraid to say hi – you want to tell them you’re just as scared as they are.”
So there you have it. Legends, it seems, are people too.
The original story appeared in Huck #010.
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