BACK ON THE BOARD

TASMANIAN pro surfer Lizzie Stokely is back in the water and ready to compete again this weekend, with hopes of returning to the world stage after recovering from a workplace injury that beached her for five months.

TASMANIAN pro surfer Lizzie Stokely is back in the water and ready to compete again on the world stage, having recovered from a workplace injury that beached her for five months.

Stokely, who in 2018 was ranked 124th in the world, partially tore her achilles tendon when carrying a table at her former workplace, Bruny Island Wines.

The deep cut kept her out of the water for five months.

But Tasmania’s top female surfer said she is feeling better than ever ahead of the Australian Board Riders Battle in Newcastle this weekend.

“I’m so excited,” Stokely said. “I’ve spent a lot of my surfing days worrying about the results.

“But I’m in such a good mindset now that the result doesn’t matter. I just need to surf my heart out.”

If all goes well, Stokely plans to compete in Indonesia with the hope of getting “a bit of a ranking again and slowly starting to creep up the ladder”.

It was Indonesia that she chose as her base after her recovery.

“I found my rhythm again. I surfed my guts out and I’m better and stronger than ever,” she said.

Late last year she started working as a deck hand for Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. Her plan is that a skipper’s ticket will allow her to travel overseas and work on surf charters so she can keep surfing the best breaks in the world.

Stokely is self-funded and makes jewellery under her Luna brand to pay her way.