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Phyllis O'Donnell (born 1937) is an Australian surfer who became the first Women's World Surfing Champion. O'Donnell won the championship in 1964 at the age of 27.〔Southerden, ''op. cit.'' p 11〕 At the time of her championship, surfing was dominated by men and her championship was regarded as a step forward for women's recognition in the sport.〔Southerden, ''op. cit.'' p 12〕 O'Donnell also won the Women's division of the Australian National Titles in surfing in 1963, 1964 and 1965.〔Warshaw, ''op. cit'' p 29〕 Although widely reported that Phyllis’ introduction to longboard surfing came when she moved to Tweed Heads with her parents in 1960, in fact Phyllis’ older sister had a boyfriend that surfed and he had left his board at their home in Drummoyne, Sydney, when Phyllis was in her late teens. Already keen bodysurfers at Manly beach, the two young women took the board to Harbord. Believing that "paddling is the most important part of surfing", Phyllis focused her attention on learning that skill before taking to her feet. Fellow future Australian Surfing Hall of Fame inductee (the first ever inductee) and Manly/Freshwater legend, “Snowy” McAllister, taught Phyllis to read and predict the conditions, and would remain her mentor throughout her career and great friend until his passing in 1987. “He used to paddle a surf ski and could ride it standing on his head”, she recalls fondly. “Snowy was just tremendous.” By the time that Phyllis reached the Tweed at 23 years of age, she was a seasoned rider and fell in love with Kirra’s magnificent barrels. Phyllis was always a threat in top international competition in the 60s. She finished 6th in the 1966 World titles held in California and 3rd in those in 1968 in her beloved Puerto Rico; 3rd in Hawaii’s Makaha International in ’66; as well as scoring two 3rd placegetters and a 4th in the Aussie titles held in ’66, ’70 and ’71, respectively; fitting in a 2nd place at Bells in ‘69, and riding short boards from 1968 onwards. “I think I first felt like I’d mastered the short board when I surfed in the Newcastle in 1968. And it took me ages to get used to leg ropes”. Having lived in California and worked for manufacturer Dewey Weber for a couple of years in the late 60s, Phyllis returned home to continue to compete and win the last of her total of 8 Queensland surfing titles. Retiring from competition in 1974, Phyllis became the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame’s 16th inductee in 1996, and the second woman after Isabel Letham, who’d tandem surfed into legend when Duke Kahanamoku selected her during his 1915 tour of Australia. In 2014, Phyllis was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame as that year's Woman of the Year; the Walk is in Huntington Beach, California.〔() 〕 A patroness of the Australian Longboard Surfing Open held annually in Kingscliff, New South Wales, Phyllis remains fit and healthy into her late 70s by a weekly regimen including four visits to a gym. ==Footnotes== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Phyllis O'Donnell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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