Layne Beachley

Once known as "Gidget" for her grommethood antics along the Sydney beach where she grew up, Layne Beachley has developed into the finest power surfer and most committed competitor of her generation.

When it comes to Y2K-style personal empowerment - and tow surfing off Phantom Reef - Beachley has no serious rivals among today's extraordinary crop of women pro surfers.

Born in Sydney, Beachley was an adoptee who grew up an independent, young woman in a world of men. She thrived on competitive sport from childhood, particularly soccer and tennis, before the surf at Manly Beach completely took over her life. Manly, two miles' bike ride from her home, was Beachley's personal paradise. A naturally outgoing character, she sometimes took hours to get from one end of the mile-long beach to the other, just stopping to talk to people.

At 16 years of age, Beachley was a skinny, determined surfer who bypassed the amateur contest structure and went straight to the pro level, surfing in trial events around Australia. By the age of 20, she was ranked number six in the world and beginning the harsh physical training regime that set her apart from every other woman pro of the past two decades.

The training gave her a perfect foundation for big-wave riding. Beachley's career was dogged by an inconsistency which seemed to spring from over-eagerness - she'd record a strong win, followed by a series of hopeless losses - but at Sunset Beach, the broad open lineup and super-juicy waves made an environment that could absorb the full range of her energies.

Beachley tackled this, the ultimate man's world, with huge enthusiasm, dominating all opposition and winning both events on the resurgent Hawaiian women's tour leg in 1996. But she still struggled with consistency in smaller waves, finally overcoming the difficulty in 1998 - with the help of boyfriend and big-wave tow maestro Ken Bradshaw - to record her first of three world titles (by the largest margin in women's history). Her ultimate goal, to break Lisa Andersen's record of four titles, is well within her grasp.

Beachley is renowned for more than her big-wave moxie and scary competitive drive. Never shy, she earned the nickname "Queen of Self Promotion" from an Australian newspaper sports columnist in response to her incessant efforts to publicize women's surfing. She turns this media savvy to good use as an occasional TV sports reporter and commentator - a career she hopes to flow into after she's finished with the pro tour.