The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional Surfing founded by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick in 1976. IPS created the first world circuit of pro surfing events. In 1983 the Association of Surfing Pros took over management of the world circuit. In 2013, the ASP was acquired by ZoSea, backed by Paul Speaker, Terry Hardy, and Dirk Ziff. At the start of the 2015 season, the ASP changed its name to the World Surf League (WSL). Sophie Goldschmidt was appointed as WSL CEO on July 19, 2017. Paul Speaker had stepped down as CEO on January 11, 2017, and Dirk Ziff acted as the interim WSL CEO until Goldschmidt's appointment.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, bodyboarding, and all other wave riding activities. The ISA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Rochelle Ballard is an American professional surfer and a veteran of the Association of Surfing Professional's (ASP) World Championship Tour. Due to her natural and skilled barrel riding technique, she is considered the best female barrel rider in the world. Through her passion, courage and skill, Rochelle has been a pioneer for the advancement of Women's surfing over the past two decades. Ballard's mastery of big waves and support of women's surfing, rank her among surfing history's most elite. She also co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and has appeared in several movies and television shows, most notably Blue Crush,Step Into Liquid, and Beyond the Break. In 2012, she became the ISA World Masters World Champion. During her years on tour, Ballard won 7 world championship events and in 2004, she was runner-up to the World Championship title. In 1997, at the Billabong Pro at Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Australia, Rochelle scored two perfect 10 barrel rides against Layne Beachley in the semifinals and went on to win the event, after beating Lisa Anderson in the finals. To this day, Ballard still holds the women's world record for scoring two perfect 10s in a single heat.
Samantha Cornish is a professional surfer from New South Wales, Australia. She began surfing at an early age and entered her first competition at the age of 11. Her father, Peter Cornish, was also a professional surfer. At the age of 15 she won the 1996 World Junior Championships. In 2002, she entered the World Championship Tournament (WCT). She has been sponsored by various companies such as Quiksilver.
Jessica Candice "Jessi" Miley-Dyer is a professional surfer from New South Wales, Australia. She currently resides in Sydney.
Stephanie Louise Gilmore is an Australian professional surfer and seven-time world champion on the Women's ASP World Tour. She was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia on 29 January 1988 and currently resides in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia.
Clay Marzo is an American professional surfer known for his unique "double-jointed" style of turns and spins. He was raised in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii where he currently resides. Marzo has been acclaimed for his creativity and innovation as a young surfer, and featured in several films.
Carissa Kainani Moore is an American professional surfer and the 2011, 2013 and 2015 WSL Women's World Tour Champion.
Sally Fitzgibbons is an Australian professional surfer on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour (2009–2013). In June 2019, she was ranked No. 1 in women's surfing after winning the 2019 Rio Pro.
International Surfing Association in Ecuador is a part of the International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing authority for surfing and all its waveriding disciplines, including bodyboard, kneeboard, longboard, tandem, skimboard and bodysurf. The ISA promotes its World Championship events as the true “Olympics” of the sport.
Sean Mattison is an American former professional surfer and current professional surf coach and mastermind behind Kelly Slater's "nubster". A fifth fin that was created by Mattison that some critics say helped Kelly Slater win his 11th ASP World Championship. Mattison also is the designer of his own alternative high performance surfboards and surfboard fins named Von-Sol.
Coco Malia Camille Hapaikekoa Ho is a professional Hawaiian surfer born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She began surfing at 7 years old, following in the footsteps of her family.
Laura Enever is an Australian professional surfer. Enever was the ASP Women's World Junior Champion in 2009. She made her professional debut in 2011.
Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer, also the 2014 and 2018 WSL World Champion. Medina joined the world's elite of the World Surf League Tour in 2011, and in his rookie year he finished within the top 12 of the ASP World Tour at the age of 17. In March 2014 he won the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Media sources credit him as being the second person to have executed a maneuver called the "Backflip". Medina also became the first person ever to land this move in competition.
Malia Manuel is a current female professional surfer from Kauai, Hawaii. She won Rookie of the Year in 2012 and was ranked 5th on the 2014 ASP World Tour. In 2008, at the age of 14 she became the youngest surfer ever to win the U.S. Open of Surfing.
Angelo Bonomelli is an Italian-Costa Rican surfer, born in Varese, Italy in 1991. He was part of the Volcom Europe surf team for years, and was coached by surfing legend Didier Piter. Bonomelli was the first Italian surfer to get good results in the ASP Pro Junior and QS.
Courtney Conlogue is an American professional surfer. She was born in Santa Ana, California. Courtney learned to surf at the age of 4. In 2004 when she was 11, Conlogue was the youngest athlete to be selected to the USA Junior Surf Team. She went on to achieve 11th place in the 2005 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. By the time she was 14, she had won a surfing gold medal as a member of the U.S. Team in the X Games. When she was 17 she won the biggest competition in the US at the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing, held at her home break in Huntington Beach, California.
Johanne Defay is a French professional surfer. She was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France. She began surfing at the age of 8 off the beaches of Reunion Island, which is her home today. After Johanne's first competition when she was only ten years old, she quickly moved through the European amateur ranks to eventually take on the WSL World Qualifying Series. In 2008 she almost gave up competing. Finding it difficult to step up from the juniors to the WQS and then when the economy crashed sending surf companies pulling sponsorships, Johanne found herself without sponsors and without decent results. With her parents’ encouragement Johanne was able to qualify for the WCT within two years.
Tatiana Weston-Webb is a Brazilian/American surfer from Kauai, Hawaii. She was the only rookie on the WCT in 2015. Weston-Webb wears jersey number 9 and her 2016 'CT rank is number 4.
Caroline Marks is an American professional surfer of Greek ancestry. She is a multiple national champion and the youngest female to compete in a World Surf League event. She is the youngest surfer ever to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour.
