Rochelle Ballard

Rochelle Ballard (born February 13, 1971) is an American professional surfer and a veteran of the Association of Surfing Professional's (ASP) World Championship Tour. She 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. Ballard has been a pioneer for the advancement of Women's surfing over the past two decades.

Early life

Ballard was born Rochelle Gordines in Montebello, California on February 13, 1971. Her parents moved to the island of Kauai in Hawaii when she was six months old. With the encouragement of four-time World Champion and Kauai resident Margo Oberg, Ballard started surfing at 12 years old. Oberg had been a top surfing professional for more than three decades and was a mentor to Ballard when she was first learning to surf at Kauai's north shore.

Career

Ballard began surfing local competitions and then advancing to state competitions, and then on to nationals, and then on to the world amateur titles where she placed fourth in the World in 1988 and 1990. Her successes qualified her to surf professionally on the World Championship Tour in 1991.

“I really admired her big wave surfing,” said Ballard in Christina Lessa's book ''Women Who Win.'' “She received so much respect for what she did. She took me out surfing quite a bit one year, spent time with me, gave me pointers, and encouraged me to brave larger waves. I developed a love for surfing, a love that is almost impossible to express. There’s an energy in the water that gives you every kind of feeling: peace, excitement, fear, a huge adrenaline rush, discouragement, frustration. The nature of surfing is such that you can’t control the waves. You have to flow with them and find the rhythm of the ocean in order to work with it and experience what the ocean has to offer. Surfing is an art—we draw a new line on each wave we ride. It’s also a science. You need to study the patterns of the ocean. And it’s an ongoing lesson, because every few years, the tides completely change.”

When she wasn't competing she was appearing in and helping her husband to produce a long string of women's-only surf movies including the original ''Blue Crush''.

Ballard served as a stunt double in Universal Pictures motion picture titled ''Blue Crush'' in 2002. She also starred in A Girl's Surf Addiction, a surf film that O'Neill released in 2004. She also helped produce a "yoga for surfers" video series. In 2001, she starred in the surfing documentary 7 Girls.
She co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and, together with O'Neill, launched the successful Rochelle Ballard Surf Camp series which focuses on advanced surfing techniques, cross training and education.

Although Ballard never won a world title, she obtained a second place finish in 2004, and she has been a top-ten finisher since 1994.

In 2012, she became the ISA World Masters World Champion. During her years on tour, Ballard won seven 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, Ballard scored two perfect 10 barrel rides against Layne Beachley in the semi-finals and went on to win the event after beating Lisa Anderson in the finals. Ballard continues to hold the women's world record for scoring two perfect 10s in a single heat.

Ballard has been featured on local and national news as well as in magazines such as
'' Surfing, TW Surf, Surfer, SG Magazine, Surfing Girl, Women Outside, Women's Sports and Fitness, Fit Magazine, Sports Illustrated Women, People, National Geographic'' as well as some international magazines. She received multiple awards over the years from the surfing community and in surfer magazine polls for best female performance, best tube ride, most influential women surfer, and most popular women surfer.

Personal life

In 1991, the same year she went pro, she married cinematographer Bill Ballard.

Ballard currently resides on the island of Kauai, where she operates a surf, yoga and wellness business calle
Surf Into Yoga

Contest highlights

2012
*Women's Division ISA World Masters Surfing Champion

2004
*3rd Rip Curl Pro, Malibu
*2nd Billabong Pro, Teahupoo, Tahiti
*2nd Roxy Pro, Fiji
*2nd Roxy Pro, Australia

2003
*2nd Billabong Pro, Teahupoo, Tahiti
*3rd Magnolia Girls Pro. Portugal
*9th Roxy Pro, Australia
*9th Roxy Pro, France

2002
*3rd Roxy Pro, Tavarua, Fiji
*3rd Roxy Pro, France
*7th Billabong Pro, Honolua

2001
*2nd Billabong Pro, Teahupoo, Tahiti
*5th Roxy Surf Jam, Fiji
*9th Billabong Pro, Maui, Hawaii

2000
*1st OP Boat Challenge

1999
*1st Gotcha Girl Star Pro, U.S.
*1st Hossegor Rip Curl Pro, France

1997
*1st Billabong Pro, AUS
*1st Kana Beach Lacanau Pro, France
*1st Wahine Women's (WQS)
*1st Gunston 500 Women WQS), South Africa
*1st Wahine Women's (WQS), U.S.

1996
*1st Wahine Women's, U.S.
*1st Town &Country, Hawaii

1995
*1st Body Glove Surfbout VIII, U.S.

External links

Rochelle Ballard Official Site

"Where I'm From", HONOLULU Magazine ~ November 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Rochelle
1971 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Montebello, California
American surfers
World Surf League surfers
People from Kauai County, Hawaii
American female surfers
Sportspeople from Hawaii
21st-century American women