[imagesource:pickpik]

In 2019, the World Surf League (WSL) finally got with the program and decreed that for the first time in pro surfing history, women would earn equal prize money as men. But it wasn’t until a shark attack in 2021 that women’s pro surfing broke the final barrier, and changed forever.

Despite being paid the same money, the 2021 Maui Pro event for women, still took place at a different beach from the bros.

The 2021 women’s event was going swimmingly until a man was attacked and killed by a shark in the area where the surfers were ripping the curls, leaving the organisers with a conundrum – continue the competition or cancel the event?

The answer to this inadvertently changed women surfing forever as the organisers decided to move the women’s event from the relatively harmless waves (except for the shark incident) at Honolulu Bay, to where the dudes were getting it on at the infamous Pipe.

The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipe, is a surf reef break located off Ehukai Beach Park on O’ahu’s North Shore. Pipe is known for huge waves that break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow, thick curls of water that surfers can tube ride. Until 2021, the beach was considered too dangerous for women’s surfing events.

“Everything changed in 2019, and the women on the Championship Tour have been pushing the level and shattering ceilings ever since. From equal prize money to charging Pipeline, Teahupo’o, and a fully integrated schedule, this is what history looks like. The standard will be raised yet again when the tour kicks off at Pipe on January 29.”

The move proved to be a turning point and after some boundary-breaking surfing from the women, the WSL never looked back.

The coming Women’s Champion Tour will once again head back to Pipe on January 29 – February 10, 2024, where the women will be riding the same waves as the men – thanks to a shark.

Watch the below video about the Ghampion Tour that broke barriers.

[source:surfer.com]