Surf rage: More women victims of aggression on the waves
As more women surfers take to the waves, there are two main dangers — sharks and male surfer bullies. It’s getting rough in the water for females who are dealing with head dunks, ruined boards and outright intimidation at our beaches.
NSW
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Surfing alone at Broken Head beach on the state’s far north coast, Kirsty Zoric was quietly joined among the waves by a group of four blokes.
“They came out and sat either side of me,” the experienced surfer recalls.
“They paddled for the same waves as me. I took off on one wave and a guy dropped in on me and took the nose off the top of my board.”
As confronting as it was, she stood up for herself.
‘I said ‘you’re not from around here and I don’t appreciate your attitude’,” she recalls.
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Zoric, from the Byron Bay Boardriders, has been surfing since she was 13 and has seen first-hand how the increasing popularity of the sport, especially in hot spots like The Pass at Byron Bay and Lennox Head, has made it more dangerous — particularly for women.
Surf rage is one thing but stir in inexperience and crowds and you have a dangerous environment.
So much so that Kirsty refuses to let her daughter, six-year-old Leihani, who is a rising star, surf at The Pass.
“I’m not going to put her life at risk when there are so many out there without ability. It only takes one hit to the head and there are those without leg ropes,” the 33-year-old said.
Despite a reputation as the domain of laid-back dropouts and earthy soul-searchers, surfing has always had a darkly aggressive side.
Some of the world’s biggest names have been involved in high-profile punch-ups over waves: Nat Young, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Sunny Garcia, Frenchman Jeremy Flores and Johnny Boy Gomes.
But the aggro is not limited to the boys. Speak to any female surfer and they will have a tale to tell.
Now though, as women take to the waves in increasing numbers and the battle for waves becomes even more competitive, they are finding themselves on the brunt of it.
Mandy Carney has not surfed at well-known Byron surf spot The Pass for two years after an incident left her shaken and bruised with a serious injury to her wrist.
“A guy had no leg rope and dropped in on my wave and came off his board and nearly killed me,” she recalls.
“I had to protect my head from the board but he abused me and paddled off and didn’t help. I thought my wrist was broken, I haven’t surfed The Pass since.
“I’ve seen so much aggression in the water surfing, particularly towards the ladies. We always get snaked, dropped-in on, abused and so on. I took up kitesurfing for that reason and happily follow the wind now. I also still love surfing but not at The Pass.”
Julia Chapple has also considered giving up her love of surfing after 30 years.
“Many times I’ve come out of the surf crying. I’ve had people chuck their boards at me and had six stitched in the back of my head,” the 64-year-old from Nashua, near Byron Bay, said.
“I had my head dunked by a guy that just got out of jail, he paddled up to me and just got me by the back of the head and dunked me under.
“Women are at the bottom of the pecking order but as a bodyboarder we are the very bottom on the pecking order.”
Former pro surfer Jodie Cooper fought off a shark at South Golden Beach on the NSW Far North Coast in 2007.
She shrugs sharks off as a kind of ‘Russian roulette’ she is willing to play in order to pursue her passion for surfing. But she also knows sharks are not the only threat out there.
Next month she will face court with the man accused of trying to drown her in a surf rage attack at Lennox Head last year.
Ms Cooper, 54, was allegedly held under water three times by surfer and surfboard shaper Mark “Carcass” Thomson, 56, in August last year.
Police allege Ms Cooper, once a runner-up to the women’s world pro tour championship, survived drowning by going limp and pretending to become unconscious.
Mr Thomson denies the charges, saying he had an “altercation” with Ms Cooper but asserting he was not the instigator.
The case will be heard in a Ballina Court next month.
Ms Cooper, who describes herself as ‘no wilting flower’, says there are other incidents.
She found her face on the end of notorious surfing wild man Johnny ‘Boy’ Gomes’ fist when she intervened in one of his legendary surf rage bullying tirades against Bud Llamas in 1993.
“I was sticking up for Bud and said ‘hey stop, chill out’ and he came over and hit me. He hit me and tried to humiliate me, and said get out of the water you stupid F-this C-that,” she said.
In researching this story, The Sunday Telegraph posted on a Facebook page calling for women surfers to share their tales of aggression in the surf, but plenty of men chimed in to point the finger at women.
“I’ve given plenty of waves to ladies, never been given one,” wrote Kevin Devlin.
“I’ve been run over by more than one girl, no leg rope while she was dropping in on a guy, I had to go to the hospital to get stitches in three fingers, out of the water for three weeks.”
Other said just as many men get punched as women and some believed women felt they could get away with it “because they’re cute”.
Former World Champion Laine Beachley, who has experienced aggression in Hawaii and at home in Manly, said egos and waves simply never mixed well.
“Girls cop it, but guys cop it too, there’s a lot of testosterone out there on the water and a lot of ego and a territorial mindset with those who have to puff out their chests,” she said.
“I’ve copped an immense amount of hostility in the water, I’ve had Johnny Boy Gomes growl in my face, but I just laughed at him.
“Now, if I have an issue out surfing, I always grab a local guy to come with me in case it gets hostile.”
There are about 2.5 million surfers in Australia and Ms Cooper said it is simply “being loved to death”.
“It’s getting tougher, there are more and more people and less and less waves and surf spots more crowded so this is going to be a bigger issue,” Ms Cooper said.
“Bad manners, horrible people, people with big egos, no respect and greed. Basic manners and surf etiquette, some just don’t have it.”
Kirsty Zoric wants the culture to change to protect her daughter.
“There are a lot of encouraging guys out there, but in Byron Bay there’s not a lot of respect in the water for the local surfers.
“There needs to be more respect,” she said.
Originally published as Surf rage: More women victims of aggression on the waves
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