Chelsea Hedges to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2023 Australian Surfing Awards

Surfing Australia is thrilled to announce that Chelsea Hedges, 2005 World Champion, will be inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame at the Australian Surfing Awards.

Chelsea, who follows in the footsteps of last year’s inductee, Taj Burrow, said it was a huge honour.

“There are so many surfers and idols already on that wall. Every time you walk into Surfing Australia, you see all those amazing names up there. To be recognised alongside my peers Layne, Taj, Mick, Joel, and Simon Anderson – I wasn’t part of the generations before that – but all those people, like Pauline, Layne and Pam, paved the way for us. It’s just an honour to be held in the same regard as these amazing athletes before me.”

Eight-time World Champion, Steph Gilmore said: “Chelsea’s induction into the HOF is long overdue. She was my hero as a young surfer and a huge inspiration to many young females in surfing around the world. I’m very excited for her to finally receive this recognition.”

Chelsea grew up surfing Sydney’s Northern Beaches with her two brothers. Her skills as a goofy-footer were recognised early on by four-time world champion Lisa Andersen, who introduced her to Andrew Murphy, the Roxy and Quiksilver team manager at that time.

Known for charging big waves, her power surfing, and strong backhand attack, Chelsea won a World Junior title in 2001 and, after just one year on the Qualifying Series, qualified for the World Championship Tour. In her first year, she finished an impressive eighth in the world.

Chelsea represented Australia on Tour for a decade. She was twice crowned International Surfing Association (ISA) world champion (2002, 2010) and won the world championship title as well as the Triple Crown of Surfing in 2005.

Since retiring from competition, Chelsea has been making her mark as a coach and mentor to the next generation of athletes, as part of Surfing Australia’s talent identification pathway. She recently took part in the inaugural Generation 2032 coach development program, an initiative helping to support female high-performance coaches.

Chelsea now lives in Tweed Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast, with her husband and three children.

About the 2023 Australian Surfing Awards:
The Australian Surfing Awards will be held at the iconic Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Wednesday, February 28.

Hosted by surf media icons Vaughan Blakey and Jess Grimwood, the awards honour the best surfers over the past 12 months across 19 categories, adding to the excitement of our biggest award, the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

The Australian Surfing Awards incorporating the Hall of Fame are proudly sponsored by Griffith University, ACCIONA, Jim Beam, Le Tan, Small Things Wine, Tracks, Surfing World, Curly Lewis, and OnStone.

For more details see the Australian Surfing Awards website and Hall of Fame honour list.