“You can win a bunch of trophies, but if you leave people with a genuine sense of inspiration for themselves to go out there and achieve their dreams and goals then that’s really the main point of this”
Every so often in life, an athlete comes along who truly blows the doors off the realms of what’s possible. With that in mind, we’re stoked to introduce the 9th episode of The Drop In Sessions presented by Mermaid Gin, offering one of the first interviews with the freshly crowned champ of women’s surfing, Stephanie Gilmore.
We welcome Steph fresh off claiming her record breaking 8th World Title following her mind blowing performance at the 2022 Rip Curl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles, California. The iconic victory, which she describes as her best ever, makes her the greatest of all time in women’s professional surfing, and boy, did it deliver some epic watching!
”It just felt like the universe was going for me that day. It was weird. Very cosmic”
Ever since Steph Gilmore first burst onto the competitive surfing scene, with her win as a Wildcard at the 2005 Roxy Pro Gold Coast event, she’s galvanised women’s surfing with her unique combination of style, power, panache and generally captivating energy. Hailing from New South Wales, Australia, Steph first qualified for the then ASP women’s championship tour in 2007, winning 4 of the 8 events during her rookie year and claiming her first world title.
In this epic Drop In Sessions episode, host Sophie dials in with Steph as the dust gradually settles post-Trestles, for a fascinating chat on personal performance and the current state at which we find women’s surfing.
“We could make the tour a lot bigger and we could definitely have equal numbers to the guys now…the talent is there to be entertaining enough …I really think that’s the next step”.
Steph and Sophie move on to weigh up who the next young guns are worth keeping an eye on, before frothing over style jedis including Gerry Lopez, Jeff Divine’s iconic photography, Rell Sunn and Margot Oberg.
”I love that surfing has so many different facets to it. Everyone has their own character, their own style, there really is no right or wrong way to do it. But in professional surfing, it’s like you’re trying to climb to be the best, but realistically, it’s such a subjective sport”
Steph also explores the absence of Brazilian women on the world tour, and why Silvana Lima is ‘the best female aerialist she’s ever seen.
”A question that I always want to know is where are the Brazilian women surfers? Because the Brazilian men are dominating the men’s tour. So where are the young women? What’s happening here? Where’s the disconnect?“
But, if you thought that Steph Gilmore was about to hang up her leash on competitive surfing, you couldn’t be more wrong, as she details the huge personal goals that still remain for her surfing career.
”I’m learning so much more about how to be a better surfer in heavier conditions. I think that that’s one of the areas that I need to work on a lot and I enjoy pushing myself to learn more.”
Kick back and settle in for an incredible insight into the illustrious and inspirational, Steph Gilmore.
Listen to all nine episodes of The Drop in Sessions presented by Mermaid Gin here.
