Maroochy bodyboarder rides wave of success
Tue 21 November 2006
Nathan Price, Journalism
Australian bodyboarder Kira Llewelyn has plenty of reasons to be happy about her latest win.
When Kira Llewelyn recently won another title – this time the World Surfing Games held in California – it didn’t just cement her reputation as a star of sport it confirmed the arrival of a dynasty in women’s bodyboarding. Like superstars such as Lance Armstrong and Kelly Slater, Kira has proven herself next to unbeatable in the world of women’s bodyboarding.
Kira, 23, once again held off a host of the world’s best women to win the final at California’s Huntington Beach. It was her second such crown in this form of competition and was experienced in front of a packed crowd at Huntington, with organisers claiming crowds of close to 10, 000 spectators were lining the beach, boardwalk and famous pier.
The title can now be tallied alongside her amazing 18 individual world tour events and maiden world tour championship in 2005. This of course all comes on top of a national career that saw her amass 11 eleven Australian championships, six as a professional and five during her amateur career.
The ever-smiling blonde girl from Maroochydore is is just enjoying the ride, she says.
"Bodyboarding was something fun I got into when I was young; now it’s a profession and it’s great to be helping pioneer the sport. When I was younger I could have gone into other traditional sports which have been in the limelight but I selected to do this and this is more rewarding as I’m seeing it grow and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world."
Kira is now preparing for another Hawaiian season, where she will ride and compete alongside the world’s best male and female surfers and bodyboarders during the northern hemisphere winter. The Hawaiian season is the unofficial showcase of surfing and bodyboarding as the world’s surfing media converge to judge who really is the best in the day-in and day-out surfing in the world’s best waves.
In January Kira will hope to add her second successive World Tour title to her resume when the women’s tour climaxes at the famous Pipeline break, in Hawaii. It sounds like a pressure filled life for a young woman but she relishes the pressure and experiences she is taking from bodyboarding, including her recent rise into the sport’s administration side.
Kira has been elected to a board of directors that will liaise between the riders and administrators who govern bodyboarding. She is one of seven riders elected from around the world and the only Australian representative.
Naturally for Kira though she sees the opportunity in terms of fun and fulfilment and not pressure.
"It’s so exciting," she says. "Bodyboarding is such a new sport and it’s great to watch it evolve and develop."
Image(s) designed by photo used with permission