1970 - present

Born and raised in Bondi, Pauline Menczer grew up to be a leading Australian surfer. Schooling at Bondi Public and then Dover Heights High she was taught to swim by her mother in the Bronte Ocean Pool and Bogey Hole. Pauline first honed her skills by skating to Bondi Beach and surfing most evenings and weekends. At 18 years old Pauline won the 1988 women's amateur world title and at 23 years she took out the 1993 women's world championship. Pauline has been a long-standing competitor on the world championship tour.

Pauline fought an incredible lifelong duel with crippling rheumatoid arthritis and rallied against gender inequality in her sport. There were days when she would struggle to move her fingers and it would hurt to walk on soft sand, despite this she moved in the water with a unique style characterised by speed and snap. She was involved in multiple protests and wasn’t afraid to call out the inequities of her industry. Throughout her career she never attracted a major sponsor and used what prize money she did achieve was used to support herself through the tours – often sleeping in a tent or a car as she travelled from event to event.

She narrowly lost a world title race to Wendy Botha in 1991 then took out the world championship in 1993 only to receive nothing more than a broken trophy. In this year Pauline’s only income was around $30 000 in prize money from other events which barely covered tour expenses. It wasn’t until 2018 that the World Surf League awarded the same prize money to male and female competitors.

Pauline now lives North of Byron Bay where she drives a Bus and does disability support work. A recent documentary ‘Girls Can’t Surf’ drew attention to her story advocating for women in sport and resulting in a GoFundMe campaign which raised the prize money Pauline should have received in 1993 as well as additional income which Pauline donated to various charities including disabled surfing association/autoimmune research.

Courtesy Pauline Menczer, the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection, Bill Morris, Tony Nolan and Tracks Magazine.