Local legend and 1993 Women’s World Pro surfing champion Pauline Menczer will be competing at the Azores Airlines World Masters & Grand Masters Championships over September 18–23 at Praia De Santa Barbara, Sao Miguel, Azores Islands.
The Women’s Masters division features six former professional surfers including four former world champions.
Menczer is taking the opportunity to win another world title very seriously and after a lifetime of living with rheumatoid arthritis she has recently recovered from a hip replacement and has been training under the tutelage of her longtime coach Steve Foreman.
WSL Qualifying Series events have run at the Azore Islands for almost a decade, and the beach has produced world-class waves on occasion.
The biggest change to the championships this year is that they will include a women’s division.
Seven-time world champion Layne Beachley and four-time champion Freida Zamba, two of the most successful surfers of all time, are among the women invited to compete.
‘Wilko’
Byron Bay’s Matt Wilkinson was pipped at the post in his round-one heat at the Tahiti Pro in building 1.5–2- metre waves at the world-famous Tahitian reef pass of Teahupo’o. Wilkinson placed second and will now battle in the sudden-death round two.
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