On Monday Night Layne Beachley was presented with the ‘Dawn’ award by the Sports Australia Hall of Fame. Named in honour of swimming legend Dawn Fraser, the criteria for winning the award states it should go to a ‘team or individual who are courageous, brave and have changed the sport for the better.”
With seven world titles, a masters title and a decorated career in motivational speaking, mentoring and women’s activism (in and out of surfing), there’s little doubt that Layne is deserving of the ‘Dawn’ award.
Curiously, Layne used the award platform to perform a mea culpa of sorts, suggesting she could have had better relationships with other surfers on tour.
After gracing the front cover of the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, Layne stated in the article that “To see respectful rivalries is what I love most about the sport today, because I had disrespectful rivalries.”
Beachley pointed directly to the friendship between rivals, Caity Simmers and Molly Picklum, who happily trade jokes and share travel experiences after going turn for turn in heats that decide world titles. “You can be friends with your competitors. I didn’t trust that” confessed Beachley who admitted she struggled to form positive connections with her peers because of her uncompromising approach on tour.
If bravery was an important aspect of the Dawn award perhaps this was Beachley’s boldest moment, calling out her own behaviour. “We shit-talked each other, we put each other down, we clawed at each other. We had a scarcity mentality reinforced by the behaviour of our male peers,” Beachley told the Herald, adding that the destructive ‘scarcity’ mindset amongst women surfers was amplified by a male dominated pro scene and a governing body that devalued women’s surfing.
Given her statements, it seems Beachley’s winning of the Dawn award indeed marks the dawn of a new era in surfing. One in which surfers might strive to maintain the kind of healthy rivalries that give competition an edge, whilst also pursuing friendships with the same competitors when they’re not wearing jerseys. The ‘frenemies’ approach means walking a fine line, but if Molly Picklum and Caity Simmers can continue to take pro surfing to new heights in such an entertaining way then it’s hard to argue with the outcome.
