Rochelle Ballard is
the premier female tube (the hollowed-out area of a
breaking wave) rider in the world and is without a
doubt the gutsiest woman on the professional surfing
World Championship Tour (WCT). She's captured
virtually every award and accolade for more than a
decade as a Team O'Neill rider. "BeachCalifornia.com Freedom is in your heart - Rochelle
Ballard"
Ballard's mastery of big waves and steadfast support
of women's surfing rank her among the sports elite.
A never-ending passion for the ocean has driven
Rochelle to Top 10 finishes each year since 1994.
Pioneering the way for a new generation of women
surfers, she fearlessly charged treacherous triple
overhead Tahitian reef breaks and Hawaii's infamous
Banzai Pipeline with its dangerous coral reefs long
before big wave riding came into vogue for females.
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.
Ballard served as a
stunt double in the motion picture Blue Crush and
also starred in A Girls Surf Addiction, a surf film
that O'Neill released in 2004. She also helped
produce a "yoga for surfers" video series.
Winning the the 2002 Surfer Poll, Surfer Magazine's
popularity benchmark is just one of Rochelle
Ballard's many credits. But for all the awards,
accolades and lofty status among the great Hawaiian
surfers, Rochelle is known for her mastery of the
tube. The legend grew to mythical proportions in
1999 when Ballard made women's surfing history at
Burleigh, Australia during a semi-final clash with
Australian Layne Beachley, scoring two perfect
10-point tube rides.
