The British Female Surfers Taking The World By Storm
The British Women setting the surfing world alight 🔥
According to the British Surfing Association (BSA), there are half a million people that regularly surf in the UK - the popularity of the sport has risen enormously in the last five years.
Membership of the BSA has also risen 400% in the past five years. Surfing is an all-inclusive sport, but it is still a fight for women to gain as much recognition as men. Many of the big names in pro-surfing like Andrea Moller and Bianca Valenti are calling for women to be able to compete in the big wave competitions with equal pay. In Britain, female surfers have become stiff competition too - these women are not only flying the flag for the UK; they are also taking the world by storm.
Lucy Campbell
Hailing from Devon, Lucy Campbell has previously been crowned both the English and British Women’s Champion and is still only 24 years of age. She has been surfing ever since she was 10, taught by her brother and her dad.
Through her website and social media, Lucy is pushing the attitude that female surfers can defy limits and achieve their dreams. She is part of a new generation of women surfers that are defining the boundaries of what women can do in surfing, not only as sportswomen but also as role models. Lucy’s big dream is to continue training, travelling and competing in the World Qualifying Series.
Laura Crane
Many people might remember Laura Crane from 2018’s Love Island, but there is far more to her than being a television personality. Laura has competed at a national level ever since her mid-teens - she is now 22. Laura, also from Devon, learned to surf when she was only 12 years old, and swiftly became a British champion by the age of 14.
She then went on to spend the next four years as part of Team GB. Laura now lives in Portugal, where she still competes at a professional level, combining sport with a successful modelling career.
Peony Knight
Another Devon girl, Peony Knight is a force to be reckoned with - she upheld her title at the 2020 MVMT English National Championships. In 2017, Peony was ranked the Number 4 in Europe and Number 1 in Britain. Peony, age 22, first learned to surf when she was seven years old. In fact, her parents took her out of school for a year, and they travelled along the coast from California to Costa Rica, surfing along the way. That is when the sport became a true passion for Peony.
Peony was hoping to surf at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where the sport was finally making its competitive debut in the games. Even though the Olympics were postponed, this hasn’t stopped Peony’s career from making waves - she was crowned English National Champion in 2020.
Britain’s female professional surfers are out to prove a point, and they're ready to take on the big waves all over the world. These are the names to watch, inspiring future generations of girls to take up the sport.