Former world champion Chelsea Hedges joined surfing royalty last week as she was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame at the Australian Surfing Awards.
The night of celebration, which was held on 28 February at the Bondi Pavilion in Sydney and presented by Vaughan Blakey and Jess Grimwood, saw Chelsea join the likes of Taj Burrow, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Stephanie Gilmore and Layne Beachley who have all previously been presented with the prestigious accolade.
Chelsea was raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches alongside her two brothers, who she said continually “pushed her” and helped her become a better surfer growing up.
The goofy-footer, known for her style, power and ability in big waves, won the World Junior Title in 2001 and qualified for the WCT during her first attempt at the Qualifying Series.
She represented Australia on tour for over a decade and her crowning moment came in 2005 when she won a world title. In the same year, she also took home the Triple Crown title.
Speaking to Surfing Asutralia about her induction into the Hall of Fame, she said: “There are so many surfers and idols already on that wall. Every time you walk into Surfing Australia, you see all those amazing names up there. To be recognised alongside my peers Layne, Taj, Mick, Joel, and Simon Anderson – I wasn’t part of the generations before that – but all those people, like Pauline, Layne and Pam, paved the way for us. It’s just an honour to be held in the same regard as these amazing athletes before me.”
Since retiring, Chelsea has been working as a coach for Surfing Australia’s talent identification pathway and during the awards, she spoke about how privileged she felt to play a part in nurturing the impressive amount of upcoming surfing talent in the country.
Over 20 awards were given out on the night to celebrate all corners of the surfing industry in Australia and legends of the sport, such as Steph Gilmore, Ace Buchan and Pam Burridge were all on hand to present the winners with their trophies.
In a continued celebration of female surfing, Laura Enever took the prize for the Heavy Water Award which was given to the surfer who had continually pushed the boundaries in big wave surfing over the last year. Laura made headlines at the end of last year when she was given a Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever paddled into and surfed by a female.
The Photo of the Year Award, which was presented by Tracks, was handed to Ben Jackson for his shot of Darcy Piper locked into a heaving drainer somewhere on the South Coast of NSW.
Full list of winners
Simon Anderson Boardrider Club of the Year: Byron Bay Boardriders
Surf School of the Year: Coastrider Surf Academy – Clifton Beach Tasmania
Innovation Award: Flowstate – Luke Wallace
Breakthrough Surf Brand of the Year: Need Essentials
Surf Culture Award: Surf Witches Boardriders
Peter Troy Lifetime Achievement Award: Steve Foreman
Greater Good Award: Blake Johnston
Indigenous Surfing Community Celebration Award: Otis Carey
Heavy Water Award: Laura Enever
Surf Edit of the Year: Russell Bierke – Outer Edge of Leisure
Surf Film of the Year – Filmer Award: Kamchatka – Spencer Frost
Surf Photo of the Year: Ben Jackson
Coach of the Year: Jay Bottle Thompson
Female Para Surfer of the Year: Jocelyn Neumueller
Male Para Surfer of the year: Joel Taylor
Stephanie Gilmore Female Rising Star Award: Sierra Kerr
Mick Fanning Male Rising Star Award: Harley Walters
Female Surfer of the Year: Molly Picklum
Male Surfer of the Year: Ethan Ewing
2024 Australian Surfing Hall of Fame Inductee: Chelsea Hedges
