Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag November 2015 | Page 30

But times change and few things have
changed more than women’s
competitive surfing. In fact, I’ll risk
going over the falls on this wave—the
ladies competition at the 2015 Vans US
Open of Surfing was nothing short of
spectacular, really!
If you live in Huntington Beach and only
vaguely recognize names like Sage
Erickson, Courtney Conlogue, Johanne
Defay, Bianca Buttendag, Sally
Fitzgibbons, Malia Manuel, Alessa
Quizon, Nikki Van Dik, Carissa Moore,
Coco Ho, Tyler Wright or Lakey
Peterson you’re probably not alone.
Accepted as a Legitimate Sport for
Young Girls
Some people, like surfing enthusiast
Paul Tomson, think that’s about to
change. The younger brother of
International Professional Surfing World
Champion Shaun Tomson—Paul quickly
zeroed-in on the probable growth in
prize money for WSL Women’s
Championship Events. The remaining
two 2015 WSL events—Roxy Pro
France (Oct 6-17) and Target Maui
Women’s Pro (Nov 21-Dec 4)—each
have $262,500 in prize money for
women competitors. That’s exactly half
the total prize money for WSL men’s
competition events. Those dollars may
soon change thinks Paul Tomson who
says, “Surfing is really being accepted
as a legitimate sport for young girls.”

“It’s been a big part of my existence
watching pro surfing all around the
world” says Paul Tomson, who thinks
that the girls have progressed more than
the boys the last three years. “Girls are
way more thoughtful and more
ingenious in the way they put it together
in their minds,” said Tomson while
assessing their development and
progress.
Now living in Huntington Beach, Paul
learned to surf at the beach breaks
around Durban, South Africa alongside
his older brother Shaun Tomson who
many consider as the blueprint
prototype for today’s pro surfer. “I was
just there” discussing maneuvers, the
line up at the pier, which direction the
waves were scoring highest, “we’d get
into these discussions about where the
waves were going,” said Paul who adds,
“The discussions we had became a way
of life.”