Out of the gates as a mere teenager with loads of natural talent, Pam Burridge was supposed to be Australia’s first female world champion in the modern era. The title seemed a foregone conclusion, but her goal remained elusive by scant degrees for some 6 years before she finally took the crown in 1990. No self promotion or cries for attention, she was a world champ whose cool vibe prevailed on the beach and in competition. But while she flowed effortlessly along the wave, her deliberate approach down the line was punctuated with aggressive vertical re-entries, buckets of spray, and surgical carves. She peaked well before female surfing found a global audience to yield financial dividends and sometimes seems buried among louder personalities and perceived revolutionary movements in women’s professional surfing. But factor in her 20 professional victories, and Burridge comes off as nothing if not one of surfing’s great modern performers. Pepper in 15 seasons on tour, never falling below 8th place and one begins to see makings of a classic surfing champion.
Born in 1965, Burridge hailed from Manly Beach, Australia. As a skateboarder and avid swimmer (and sister of an Olympic swimmer), learning to ride waves wasn’t a stretch; but it wasn’t until 1975 when at age 10, she hopped on a homemade surfboard and unknowingly found her calling. She was soon ripping nearby beaches, spending a summer under the tutelage of Nat Young, Bill McCausland and Tony Hardwick, which helped her non-surfing parents wrap their brains around their daughter’s new passion. And her parents must have been shocked when just 2 years after stepping on a surfboard, the blond pre-teen would take her first win at a local contest. She continued to compete, concluding that boys were better competition against her building skills and confidence. She won Australian state titles from 1979-81 and national titles in 1980 and 1981.
Burridge fell into surfing as a career a bit haphazardly. Professional surfing in the 80’s was still in its infancy. At that time, the separation between amateur and professional athletes was a matter of money. Accepting payment for a win would officially deem you “professional.” Consequently, when Burridge was invited to compete in the Hawaiian pro events, she said goodbye to amateur status and found herself at the end of the 1980 season ranked 11th in the world. She chose to quit school in 1982 to become a full-time tour surfer at 17. The surf media piled on the praise as her prodigious talent and good looks assured the stylish goofy foot a future in the sport and, of course, a championship title in short order. She led the IPS world tour the entire year but found herself in 2nd behind Debbie Beacham upon conclusion of the year’s final event. Burridge would finish runner-up an insane six times as the list of her rivals was nothing if not impressive. Throughout her career, she battled tour greats like Frieda Zamba, Pauline Menczer, Jodie Cooper, Wendy Botha, Lisa Anderson and Layne Beachley. Burridge fell just short of the title over the next 4 years, percolating among the top 5. She dropped to 7th place in 1987 and jumped back to the runner-up position for another 2 years.
Surfing was a rough go as a profession in those days, and being a female pro surfer was even tougher. Jason Borte writes,“… Burridge had to turn to car-body repairers and hat companies for financial assistance.” In 1989, after losing her sponsors, Burridge’s boyfriend Mark Rabbidge sold his car to purchase a plane ticket to the next contest, a stroke of faith that ignited a competitive run that garnered Burridge her most elusive goal. She won the ASP Women’s world title in 1990 after a convincing win in big Sunset Beach grinders.
There is one twist of fate that is often overlooked in Burridge’s career. Wendy Botha won the world title one year prior to Burridge and became Australia’s first world champion, a feat for the record books. However, Botha was born a South African, and just a year before her win had applied for Australian citizenship to help enhance her professional career as South African Apartheid policies hampered her travel to events. Botha became Australia’s maiden champion by way of a signature on a document, relegating Burridge to runner-up status. Burridge remained at the top of the ratings for the next three years and then retired.
In 1992, Marion K. Stell wrote Pam Burridge, a biography that illuminated the dark and frayed edges of Australia’s surfing queen. Burridge admitted struggles with Anorexia as well as with drugs and alcohol, giving new dimension to her public persona. Burridge returned to the tour for a stint, finishing 3rd in 1997 behind Layne Beachley and Lisa Anderson, a result Burridge herself calls one of the most satisfying of her career. She left the tour and then again jumped back into competition before quitting one last time as she was pregnant with her first child. She left for good in 1999, still ranked 8th in world.
She and Rabbidge named their first child Isobel after one of Australia’s earliest female surfers. Still grabbing waves “in between breastfeeds and other irrefutable demands,” she gave birth to her second child, Otis, two years later. With 20 total victories and ranked in the top 8 for 15 seasons, there was nothing for Burridge to prove to the world. She moved with Rabbidge the South Coast of New South Wales. She was inducted into the Sport Australian Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in 1997. Starting in 2003, Burridge began running a surfing school at Bendalong and Mollymook and looked to be settling into rural bliss.
However, in 2005 at 39 years old, she again jumped into the competitive fray to compete against one of the most impressive lists of talent in years and surfers half her age. Burridge said, “I still feel I have something to throw at them so that’s why I’ve entered a few divisions, mostly for fun.” And with decades of competition and travel behind her, a world title, and even a Sydney Ferry that carries her name; it seems that fun is her next great adventure. She sums it up, “After 20 years I have a new perspective on it all. Just having fun, trying to surf well and getting good waves is what it’s about these days.”
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