Lisa.The first female champ whose technique the rank and file surf dude sexists were envious of. Photo: Hornbaker/Roxy

Like a would-be starlet getting off the bus in Hollywood, Lisa Andersen showed up in California from ormond Beach, Florida, hoping to make it big in surfing. The only catch, nobody had really made it big in women’s surfing up to that point. There most certainly had been stars, and Gidget was cute, but no woman had ever been a primetime, needle-moving star. Growing up in a Florida town where she was the only female surfer, her parents were none too keen on her career aspirations. So she ran away to Huntington. Then she won four world titles and became the face of Roxy. Talk about proving a point. The compliment used to go, “Lisa surfs like a man.” But that does her talent an injustice. While she wasn’t short on full-rail power, it was her grace and feminine lines that made her so visually pleasing. And then there was the issue of her competitive dominance. Focused and unflinching, when she was at the height of her power around 1997, she was virtually unbeatable. Lisa paved the way for Blue Crush, Steph Gilmore, Carissa Moore, and all of the Alana Blanchards and Laura Enevers of the world. And ask anyone of those girls and they’ll tell you, “Lisa surfs better than a man.” – JH