A “surfing trailblazer”, “uncensored underdog”, “surfy rat-bag”, “unsung hero”, ”god’s great hustlers”
Ring a bell? The story is Pauline Menczer’s…
Let Ian Wallace (Bondi Boardriders President 2016-2023) set you the scene…
“The line-up featured the likes of the Webber and Kitzler brothers, Dave Davidson, and a cast of rising stars, each bringing a mix of raw talent, bravado, and a fair dose of madness.
Amidst this fiercely competitive scene was a young, freckle-faced kid with short brown hair, who held her own against the beach’s best. Her name was Pauline Menczer. She asked for no special treatment and received none. Her gender never a shield, only another reason to prove herself. She was driven, fearless, and once she stepped onto the world stage, her tenacity took her all the way to the top.”
Growing up in Bondi in the mid-80s as a young grom meant being thrown into one of the toughest surf scenes around. You had to earn your space, both in and out of the water. As Ben Davies (Bondi Rescue creator and a former Bondi Boardriders President) recalls , “When I was 14 I would watch from afar as Pauline surfed rings around every other kid in the highly contested waves at Bondi. She was the kid determined to be world champion.”
Thousands of surfers, let alone beaches, dream of clinching a world title, but only a few rare individuals make it a reality…
Pauline did just that and became the best female surfer in the world in 1993 and the only surfer (female or male) to ever bring home a World Title (1993) to Bondi shores, however, paying a steep price to forge the path of equality in surfing and for our female surfers to dominate on tour today.
Being one of the grittiest and resourceful competitors, and a big-hearted natural footer with a zest for big waves, Pauline constantly negotiated heavy sections with snappy turns, not just in the surf, but in life.
Traveling the world on a shoestring budget, along with other female world champs of that era – she didn’t get prize money, or any sponsorship deals or recognition for her feat, so Pauline grafted a living by driving buses to fund travels for her career. In addition, Pauline dealt with the harsh gender disparities at the time, homophobia and quietly struggled with rheumatoid arthritis.
“A role model rising through her resilience, tenacity and incredible talent”, as Brenda Miley (Founder Lets Go Surfing, president Bondi Girls Surfriders Club) admires, pushing boundaries, many of which, you could argue, should have never been there in the first place. “I could think of no one better to represent what can be…Bondi’s only world champion, a women, a working class kid who rose to the top.”
Pauline gained supporters from around the world who resonated with her story and push for change, and those of whom managed to raise tens of thousands of dollars to finally gift Pauline her world title prize money and with the excess money raised, Pauline being Pauline, donated it to a disabled surfing charity and helped a guy in the Phillipines with the same severe skin disease as her.
Among the huge developments of Pauline’s recent release of her awe-inspiring autobiography “Surf Like A Women”, Waverley Council has agreed to honour our Australian royalty in Pauline, by enshrining an everlasting, life-size, bronze statue doing a ‘surf check’ over South Bondi. Whilst funding is well underway, the initiative still needs more money behind it to make it happen…
To pay tribute to her contributions, and see both the local and surfing communities coming together for an upgrade to that busted old trophy, rightfully so, as Ian Wallace, yet again, puts it perfectly, “to immortalize this legendary athlete. A symbol not only of Pauline’s achievements, but of what’s possible for future champions from Bondi.”
Inspiring? Long overdue? Proud? All of the above.
A legacy finally has the opportunity to come to fruition.
Can’t make it?
You can still help enshrine Pauline.
