Bianca Buitendag is a
South African professional
surfer. She has represented South Africa at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
where she won silver in the women's shortboard competition.
Life
Buitendag was born in
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
,
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
on 9 November 1993. She grew up near the beach of
False Bay
False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...
outside of
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
. With her father's encouragement she learned to surf at the age of eight with her two brothers. When she was twelve her family moved to the Southern Cape region of South Africa. Bianca only spoke
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
when she first went to school, so her parents decided to put her in an English school.
In 2015 her father, Collin Buitendag, died. She was still able to finish at her career-best at World No. 4.
The following year she was ranked No 12 in the world.
Surfing career highlights
*2013 8th ranked WSL
*2013 3rd Colgate Plax Girl's Rio Pro – Brazil
*2014 7th ranked WSL
*2014 3rd Target Women's Maui Pro – Hawaii
*2014 2nd Roxy Pro Gold Coast – Australia
*2015 4th ranked WSL
*2015 2nd Swatch Women's Pro – California
*2015 3rd Van's US Open of Surfing – California
*2015 2nd Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji
*2015 2nd IO Rio Women's Pro – Brazil
*2016 12th ranked WSL
*2017 17th ranked WSL
*2018 3rd Corona J Bay – Africa
*2019 44th ranked WSL
*2021 2nd (silver medal)
2020 Summer Olympic Games
References
External links
Profile in World Surf LeaguePersonal SiteSurfer Girls - Bianca Buitendag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buitendag, Bianca
Living people
1993 births
People from George, South Africa
South African female surfers
World Surf League surfers
Olympic surfers of South Africa
Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for South Africa
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in surfing
Afrikaner people
Sportspeople from the Western Cape