Sally still happiest taking on the waves
SALLY Paxton is one of the biggest names on the Gold Coast surfing scene but despite shaping the sport locally, she is still as humble as ever.
When asked where she would display her new Surfing Queensland life membership award, she said she had the perfect use for the glistening silver plate.
“I’ll probably have some cheese and bickies on it this afternoon,” she joked.
“I was very honoured and very humbled when I got the phone call about it.”
After first taking to the waves on her brother Gary’s Joe Larkin decades ago, the 1986 Australian longboard champion said she was heartened to see how far women in the sport had come.
“When I first started surfing, you were fighting for a wave and had to work hard to be recognised and be out there in the water,” she said.
“The girls now, what they have achieved and the direction they’re going getting equal money and equal rights just shows its come leaps and bounds.
“It’s just been amazing where female surfing has gone and Stephanie Gilmore has been one who has really brought that to the fore and she’s an inspiration to us all.”
Paxton still takes time each morning to head down to her local break and hopes she will be doing so for many years to come.
“I love everything about surfing,” she said.
“If I don’t surf every day I’ll go nuts.
“I like trying to be first in the water and get out there in the dark before the crowd gets there.”