A Chat with Sally Fitzgibbons

Last month Sally Fitzgibbons won the Swatch Girls Pro France and is quickly closing the gap between her and, the current number 1 in the Women’s ranking, Carissa Moore. Shortly after the contest we were able to ask Sally a bunch of questions about the tour, her surfing, her everyday life, and her thoughts on the Quiky Pro New York.

 

First off, congratulations on winning the Swatch Girls Pro France! How does it feel to be ranked 2nd in the world? How are you hoping to secure that No. 1 spot over Carissa Moore?
It is a great position to be ranked 2nd in the World as this stage of the season. With two events still remaining I will be putting everything into chasing down that No. 1 position. I’m going to stick to a similar approach for these last couple of events and surf my heats the way I like, I don’t focus on what my competitors are doing so much.

 

You caught a huge edge over Sage Erickson in the final, scoring the highest total in the event, a 16.00 out of 20. What was going on in your head during that heat?
The Swatch Girls Pro France was a great lead up event for the Roxy Pro Biarritz. It was a good event to practice certain heat strategies and fine tune everything for the upcoming World Tour event. Sage Erickson is a very tough competitor and I knew I had to step it up in the final. I was able to pick off two of the bigger set waves so I tried to open up a little more and push harder through my turns. It is always an amazing feeling to get a win.

 

Les Bourdaines is said to be a pretty heavy wave. How did you adapt to handle the conditions?
Les Bourdaines is very shifty wave. With the massive tides it is ever changing so I was always watching and trying to adjust during my heats as the good waves moved. I really enjoy surfing French Beach breaks with multiple peaks everywhere, it spreads everybody out and you have to work hard to find the gem waves.

 

Courtney Conlogue almost took you out in the semi-final. What did you do to secure your lead to solidify your spot in the final?
I had a hard fought Semi-final with Courtney on the way to the final. She had a good start to the heat and so I had to be patient and smart when using my priority. It was a very close finish only getting the 8+ ride I needed in the last minute to take the win. It’s a great feeling to get yourself out of tough situations during your heats.

 

What the heck are you going to do with that gigantic Swatch?
The gigantic Swatch watch is definitely a cool trophy. I was planning on hanging it up in my house as the clock but unfortunately when it was being sent back to Australia it arrived in a million pieces. Hopefully we can remake it as it is an unreal trophy.

 

Being a regular on the world tour now, you’re traveling with the same girls all the time. How do you balance your friendships with girls on tour in such a competitive atmosphere?
This is my 3rd year traveling on the World Tour and I feel very comfortable with everything that’s coming along with competing on the top stage. I find everyone does a great job of leaving what goes down in competition in the water and returning to great friends out of the surf. We spend so much time away from home that it is import to have great friends on tour and to hang out with when we are on the road.

 

How do you prepare yourself to do “battle” before a heat?
My preparation for heats does change here and there to fit into the location we are competing at. You do have to be quite flexible as you don’t have all the same facilities available everywhere you go. My routines for warming up and getting my equipment ready stay the same and this gets my body ready and firing to go out for a heat.

 

What’s the best thing about being on tour?
There are so many good things about competing on the Word Tour. I love competing and chasing my goal to be World Champ, but I also really enjoy the lifestyle and the travel that goes along with it. To be my and age and experiencing some the different cultures and countries is a little surreal at times.

 

How do you think women’s professional surfing has progressed since the days when Rochelle Ballard, Layne Beachley and Keala Kennelly reigned?
I believe the likes of Layne Beachley, Rochelle Ballard and Keala Kennelly definitely paved the way for our generation. They were the Women dominating the tour when I was a young grom and inspired many girls to take up surfing. They all had their different areas that they excelled in and I know it was pretty rough when they started competing. It took time for them to earn that respect. I really appreciate everything they did for Women’s surfing.

 

Care to tell us the funniest thing that’s happened to you or you’ve seen on tour this year?
So many funny things go down on tour it’s pretty hard to pick one. For myself probably dropping the Bells trophy on my head and falling off the stage during the presentation was a fine moment haha. Another funny moment was when Jessi Mylie-Dyer and I were trying to drive a manual car and both of us had never learned. We were in Hossegor, so the opposite side of the road to Australia and we were stalling down every street and hopping all the way home.

 

Where would you like to see the Women’s side of the ASP in the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years, I’d like to see the Women’s World Tour have a solid amount of events spread evenly through the year, upward of 12 events minimum. I would like to see the prize money increased with the growing interest in our sport, not asking ridiculous amounts, just relative to the growing popularity. I would hope our sport would have reached out to the out of surfing industry sponsors to get on board to sponsor events and promote our sport. It would be great to also have our events along side most of the men’s events and having all World Tour events broadcast on TV. Let’s hope we can get our Hawaiian Triple Crown leg of the tour back, as it is extremely disappointing not to have our year ending there this year. I think in the time all is achievable, surfing is loved world-wide, so lets hope our governing bodies can take it to everyone.

 

Spending so much time away from home on the tour, what do you enjoy doing most at home besides surfing?
Spending time away from your friends and family is one of the sacrifices you have to make when you have a dream job that enables you to travel the world. When I do get back home I love hanging out with friends watching all kinds of sport, going to games and what ever is on at the time. We all surf, skate and play basketball. It’s so good catching up with everyone.

 

What’s one location that you’ve always wanted to surf but haven’t had the opportunity to yet?
I’ve always wanted to surf Fiji and haven’t had the opportunity yet. It’s so close to home so I’m looking to get across there very soon.

 

What boards are you currently riding?
I’m riding DHD boards. It’s awesome being apart of the team and being able to build a great relationship with Darren. We’re always looking to improve my boards and experiment to find the next board that feels magic.

 

Favorite junk food?
Chocolate fondant

 

Barrels or airs?
Both are sic.

 

Any plans to come to New York this September for the Quiky Pro and what are your thoughts on the event?
I will hopefully get time to go and check out the Quiky Pro in New York. It is going to be a grandstand event in a major city which is great for surfing to branch out, I think the people there will love it. Hopefully next year it will have a Women’s event as well, it would be a great edition to our tour.

 

Have you ever been to New York or surfed on the East Coast of the United States?
I have never been to or surfed New York or the East Coast of the US. It will be good to get over there and explore that part of the world. It is a very exciting city from what I hear and see on movies.

 

What music is pumping through your headphones these days?
I can listen to all sorts of music. I do favour hip hop and anything that makes you want to dance; Rihanna, Beyonce, Katy Perry to name a few.

 

From following you on twitter, it seems like you’re a huge sports fan. What are some of your favorite teams?
I do love my sport and can watch and type. I follow teams in every sport so it’s hard to narrow it down. Put me in a stadium or in front a TV with sport on and I’m happy.

 

What can we expect in the near future from Sally Fitz?
I’m going to be working hard as always and gunning hard for that top spot of World Champ. The goal is just to keep improving on those weaker areas and keep progressing and stepping it up with my performances. You can expect a very smiling Sally Fitz because I love what I do.

 

Big thanks to Sally for taking the time out of her schedule to answer our questions! Make sure to follow her on twitter @Sally_Fitz and like her on Facebook. Also be sure to check the live webcast of the Roxy Pro 2011 in Biarritz, France to watch Sally compete.