Nine
More Women Shaping Our Seas and Surfing
Written
by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
This is the ninth year for SurfWriter Girls Women Making
Waves story focusing on nine amazing women making a difference in the lives
of our oceans and in surfing.
Like the ninth wave in a set, that is more powerful than
the rest, these women have had a powerful impact on the world. Surfers,
scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and more. SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug
and Patti Kishel are excited to introduce you to this lineup of dynamic women.
Nancy Caruso, marine
biologist/founder of nonprofit Get Inspired! is getting people involved
to restore California's kelp beds and protect endangered abalone, white sea
bass and Pismo Clams. She's taught over 12,000 students and takes people in
SoCal on dives to see the kelp beds and sea life. Caruso worked at the Long
Beach Aquarium of the Pacific caring for exhibits and animals and in the water
quality lab. Growing up in Virginia, she hadn’t even seen the ocean when her fourth-grade
teacher told the class about oceanography and got her hooked on being an
oceanographer.
Sally Fitzgibbons, 2024
U.S. Open of Surfing champion and Surfing Walk of Fame inductee, had
lots to celebrate in Huntington Beach this August. The Australian, who started
surfing on the World Tour in 2009, scoring a win in Portugal her rookie year,
won the Open before in 2011 and has 12 wins on the Tour, including the Rip
Curl, Billabong, and Fiji Pro events. With sponsors including Town &
Country Surfboards, Breitling, Boost Mobile, and Accor Hotels, Fitzgibbons is a
major force in surfing. She says, "Being a professional surfer is the best
job in the world. The ocean is my office, nature is my business
partner."
Love Lee Ghione,
founder of the Surf City Splash, Huntington Beach's annual New Year's
Day run into the ocean, is at the heart of Surf City's vibe, working with the
HB Coordinating Council and the Surfrider Foundation to stage
events and promote the city. Known on Instagram as surfcitywonderwoman, Ghione
lives up to the name with her boundless energy and enthusiasm. A dog lover,
Ghione is also a co-founder of HB's DogBeach.org preservation group that
supports the city's dog beach where pooches can run and play in the
ocean.
Christy Hahn, champion
bodysurfer and Beach Volleyball Hall of Famer (Manhattan
Beach Volleyball Championships Doubles winner 1969), is the epitome of the
California beach girl, living a life people dream about. And, in
February she saved a life, rescuing a swimmer from drowning in rough surf in
Del Mar, CA. Hahn, who's in her eighties, knew the ocean conditions well. She
set a World Record there in 2018 with twelve other bodysurfers for the most
women bodysurfing a single wave. Hahn puts on bodysurfing clinics for disabled
vets and Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton's Beautifully Flawed
Foundation
Melissa Murphy, of
Melissa Murals, based in Huntington Beach, recently used a 60-ft. boom to paint
the exterior of the Sunset Lounge, turning the building's bland gray exterior
into a riot of color. With murals all around Huntington Beach and other
SoCal beach towns, the HB native (nicknamed “Melissa Murals”), who
graduated from CSU Long Beach with an art degree, is changing the look of the
O.C. one brush stroke at a time. An avid surfer, former lifeguard and water
polo player, she is particularly fond of ocean scenes and sea life.
Jane Schmauss, co-founder of the
California Surf Museum in Oceanside, has served as the museum's director,
president and historian. A San Diego native and graduate of San Diego State
University, Schmauss is a booster for all things surfing. The museum's
first location (in 1986) was in a corner of her restaurant George's in
Encinitas, a spot where all the surfers hung out. Its current location,
steps from Oceanside Pier, is 5800 sq. ft., filled with surfing exhibits, art
and memorabilia. Schmauss co-edited Surfing in San Diego, a book
about the region's surfing history.
Brooke Shannon is
the founder of Jilaine Swim, a Costa Mesa, CA, manufacturer of sustainable
swimwear made from recycled materials. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of
Design and Merchandising, Shannon started her business because she wanted to
make a fashion statement while having a positive impact on the environment. A
beach girl at heart, who practically lives in bathing suits, her lineup of
eco-friendly swimwear lets her put all her skills to use. And nothing goes to
waste – fabric scraps from the manufacturing process are made into matching
scrunchies.
Caitlin Simmers,
18-year-old surfing phenom from Oceanside, CA, just made history by becoming
the youngest female to win the World Surf League Championship. Dazzling the
crowd at CA’s storied Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach September 6th,
she clinched the number one spot on the tour. With three World Tour wins this
year and a spot on the 2024 Olympics team, the 2023 Rookie of the Year has not
only lived up to everyone’s expectations but skyrocketed to the top of her
sport.
Suzanne Strom, Ph.D., oceanographer
and head of the Strom Lab at West Washington University, focuses much of
her research on plankton, an important part of the ocean ecosystem.
Plankton, a diverse collection of organisms that drift on the water, are a key
source of food for fish, marine mammals and seabirds. Researching how plankton
produce and interact, Strom has made breakthroughs in the lab and encountered
30-ft. waves at sea, working on projects from the Gulf of Alaska to the Palmer
Station in Antarctica.
Leaders in their chosen fields, each woman shares one thing
in common – a passion for the ocean and a desire to make the world better.
SurfWriter Girls
Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine
Sunny Magdaug and Patti
Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications
wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com
Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites
as long as credit is given.
