Phyllis O'Donnell (1937 – 6 November 2024) was an Australian surfer who became the first
Women's World Surfing Champion. O'Donnell won the championship in 1964 at the age of 27. At the time, surfing was dominated by men, and her championship was regarded as a step forward for
women's recognition in the sport. O'Donnell also won the women's division of the Australian National Titles in 1963, 1964, and 1965.
It has been widely reported that O'Donnell began
longboard surfing in 1960 when she moved to
Tweed Heads, New South Wales
Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the Tweed Shire local government ...
with her parents. In fact, her older sister had a boyfriend who surfed and had left his board at their home in
Drummoyne, New South Wales when O'Donnell was in her late teens. Already keen
bodysurfers at
Manly Beach, the two young women took the board to
Harbord. O'Donnell concentrated on paddling before taking to her feet. Her teacher was Snowy McAlister, the first inductee in the
Australian Surfing Hall of Fame, and remained her mentor and friend until his death in 1987. By the age of 23, she was a seasoned rider and fell in love with
Kirra, Queensland.
O'Donnell finished 6th in the World titles in California (1966), 3rd in Puerto Rico (1968), 3rd in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
's Makaha International (1966); 3rd twice and 4th once in the Australian titles (1966, '70, and '71); and 2nd place at
Bells Beach, Victoria (1969), riding short boards from 1968 onwards.
In the late 1960s, O'Donnell worked for
Dewey Weber, a surfboard manufacturer in California. Returning home to compete, she won the last of her 8 Queensland surfing titles. She retired from competition in 1974, and two years later was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame. In 2014, she was inducted into the
Surfing Walk of Fame in
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...
.
O'Donnell died on 6 November 2024, at the age of 87.
A tribute to Phyllis O'Donnell (1937–2024)
/ref>
References
External links
*
Books
*''Surf's Up: The Girl's Guide to Surfing'' by Louise Southerden, Random House, 2005, .
*''The Encyclopedia of Surfing'' by Matt Warshaw, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005, .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Phyllis
1937 births
2024 deaths
20th-century Australian sportswomen
Australian female surfers
Place of birth missing