Are Open Divisions in Surf Contests “Equal?”

photo: @saltwaterpilgrim

When we talk about “equality in sports,” what do we really mean? And if a sport is “equal,” does that necessarily make it fair?

Recently, the annual Kirra Klassic surf contest on the Gold Coast of Australia announced that it would include an open pro division for men and women for the first time. Whoever won the competition would receive the $5,500 prize. 

This proposal did not go over well with everyone. While the open division would mean equal competition for men and women in terms of opportunity to compete, pro surfer Lucy Small pointed out to the organizers that it would not be a fair competition. “When you have a mixed division like that, the chances of a man winning the money is a lot higher, so it’s not really fair.” In other words, women did not have an equal chance of winning. Lucy sought to address this issue of fairness by requesting that the contest organizers separate the open division into a men’s and women’s division and split the prize money equally between them. 

The organizers denied her request, justifying their decision to create an open division by saying “it’s not unfair because it’s an open event, anyone can enter.”  

In other words, for the organizers, equal opportunity meant fairness. But as Lucy had pointed out, equality is not always fair.

When Lucy’s request for a separate women’s division with equal prize money was denied, rather than take no for an answer she organized a group of women to fill the allotted slots with the support of surf label Salt Gypsy, which helped them all pay the $250 entrance fee. 

For the organizers, equal opportunity meant fairness. But as Lucy had pointed out, equality is not always fair.

Lucy and the other women filled 15 out of 16 slots. The 16th slot had been filled by a man, but he withdrew in solidarity with the women. The contest organizers did not react well to this. “It was really controversial,” said Lucy, “which is just, like, so nuts that women entering an open division would be controversial, because those divisions are full of men all the time.”

In response to the event being filled by women, Kirra Klassic organizer Sean McKoewn said that the women have “not thought this through.” He continued, “The object of this particular division is high-performance surfing.” He went on to state that women are “not particularly good” at the kind of high performance surfing that would be judged at the contest: “In general, the girls tend to be more like ballet dancers on a surfboard…it’s a bit of a strength thing,” he explained, a point that is often brought up when comparing men and women’s surfing. Given his attitude, one wonders at the motivation for creating the open division in the first place.

Ironically, it seems that Sean and Lucy were in agreement about why men and women should compete separately. Sean was less interested in creating fair competition and more interested in creating a high performance men’s division that he could call “equal” by making it open to both genders. Lucy wanted a division where women would have an equal chance of earning prize money. What neither Sean’s nor Lucy’s arguments consider are the more nuanced reasons why women should be able to compete in their own division. 

“It’s so nuts that women entering an open division would be controversial, because those divisions are full of men all the time”

Some might argue that paying women equally and investing in giving them their own divisions is not fair to their male counterparts, because men’s surfing generates more revenue for the surf industry than the women do. But if women bring in less money, it's not because they’re any less impressive in the waves; rather, it's because they haven’t had access to the same opportunities as men historically to develop their surfing. 

Women’s surfing has faced a long history of discrimination. Before the 1990’s, female surfers made up only 3% of all surfers (though this was not always the case; in pre-colonial Hawaii, women were a powerful force in the surf). Women who did surf were almost entirely excluded from surf media, there were no wetsuits designed for women, sponsorship opportunities were few and far between, and the prize money awarded to women was a fraction of what the men earned. 

If women bring in less money, it's not because they’re any less impressive in the waves; rather, it's because they haven’t had access to the same opportunities as men historically to develop their surfing.

This began to change in the 90s, when the surf industry recognized that it could make money by including female surfing in its media (though, this representation was hyper-sexualized and the women portrayed were rarely actually surfing). Despite the fact that women’s surfing was beginning to be valued for the revenue it could generate for the surf industry, women still had to fight to be included in competitive surfing. It wasn’t until 1987, eleven years after the founding of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), now known as the World Surf League, that a separate women’s tour was established. Even still, women were excluded from competitive heavy wave events like the Pipe Masters, which didn’t include women until 2020. 

Today, women make up about 20-30% of all surfers. Savannah Shaughnessy, one of the few women surfers to frequent big wave spots like Mavericks, believes that the lack of women in the waves is a big reason why the women’s side of surfing remains marginal. “There are so few of us and we are pretty spread out,” said Shaughnessy, “so there’s less competition between us. Because we are so few and far between, the women are missing the kind of mentorship and camaraderie that is formed on the men’s side.”

“Because we are so few and far between, the women are missing the kind of mentorship and camaraderie that is formed on the men’s side.”

Considering this decades-long disadvantage women’s surfing has experienced, the decision to award women equal prize money and give them their own division in competition is about investing in the future of the sport by giving athletes the opportunities and resources to excel that they have been denied for so long. In places where women have been given these opportunities such as when the WSL awarded equal prize money, or when they gained access to competition in waves like Jaws in 2016, Pipeline in 2020, and Waimea Bay during this year’s Eddie Big Wave Invitational, we have seen women shatter ceilings and reach impressive new levels of performance. Investing in women’s surfing is a way to ensure that this growth and evolution continues. 

Keala Kennelly dropping in at the Eddie

photo: Instagram

Considering this decades-long disadvantage women’s surfing has experienced, the decision to award women equal prize money and give them their own division in competition is about investing in the future of women’s surfing, by giving them the opportunities and resources to excel that they have been denied for so long.

Another reason to have separate women’s divisions in competition is to celebrate women’s surfing as its own thing, independent from mens surfing. The Kirra Klassic organizer himself acknowledged one of the ways that women’s surfing (particularly longboarding) differs from men’s, highlighting the gracefulness and dancer-like style of many female surfers. An open division doesn’t make room for this kind of difference in style, because in order to be competitive in a heat against men, women would have to surf like men. Giving women their own division means making room for them to be creative with their surfing and express their unique styles, be that graceful and dancerly, or powerful, aggressive and snappy. It is only fair that women have the opportunity to express and develop their surfing based on its own merit, not measured against men’s surfing. Allowing women the opportunity to surf in an authentic way, is giving surfing the opportunity to evolve.

The lack of opportunity given to female surfers has been an obstacle for women’s surfing as a whole. Despite the forces that hold them back, generations of brave and dedicated female surfers like Lisa Anderson, Layne Beachley, Pam Burridge, Rochelle Ballard, and many more, have pioneered a way towards opportunity in women’s surfing. As women’s surfing has grown, the gap between men’s and women’s high performance surfing has narrowed. But women’s surfing is still not valued equally to men’s. 

It is only fair that women have the opportunity to express and develop their surfing based on its own merit, not measured against men’s surfing.

Upon hearing about the controversy that ensued after Lucy and her fellow competitors filled the spots in the open division, a brand called The Haus of Ambrosia offered to support a separate women’s division with equal prize money. 

Through their efforts, Lucy and her fellow female competitors successfully created a pro division of their own, and they did so without compromising on fairness or equality. With Haus of Ambrosia’s sponsorship, they will receive equal prize money to the men, without taking anything from the men’s division, and Haus of Ambrosia will benefit from the publicity that supporting these women will generate. The women’s surfing will be judged fairly, not against the men’s surfing, rather against the performance of their fellow female competitors.