Stephanie Gilmore : photo courtesy ASL

Surfing Life Peer Pole Awards

Gilmore and Fanning voted the best at Surfing Life Peer Pole Awards

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 24 March, 2008 : - - The world's professional surfers have voted for who they believe are the world's best surfers and have chosen Australian world champions Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore. Fanning and Gilmore were presented with their awards at the 16th annual Surfing Life Peer Poll Awards - a gala function held in Torquay to coincide with the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.

The Surfing Life Peer Poll Awards are the only surfing awards that the surfers themselves vote for, giving surfers a unique opportunity to have their say about who is the best. To be recognised by their peers as the best is a huge honour for the award recipients.

It is the first Peer Poll win for recently-married Fanning, from Coolangatta. Fanning is also the first Australian winner since Luke Egan won the award in 2000. Fanning won the award from fellow nominees - eight-time world champion and nine-time Peer Poll Award winner Kelly Slater, American Andy Irons and fellow Australians Taj Burrow and Bede Durbidge.

Gilmore, 20, from Kingscliff in northern NSW, took home the award in the female category, replicating her win in the same category last year when she won the award, despite Layne Beachley being the world champion at the time.' In recent times the award has tended to go to the world champions, but nothing is a certainty as Steph showed last year by winning the award ahead of Layne,' said Surfing Life magazine editor Tim Fisher.

Steph and Mick worked very hard last year and I am sure they are both very proud of their award wins. 'Being voted by your peers there is no better award. I am so stoaked,' Fanning said. Gilmore said she appreciated the support of the magazine in continuing to raise the profile of female surfing.

Snickers Next Big Thing

One of the most tightly contested awards was the Snickers Next Big Thing (female) with teenage Hawaiian sensation Carissa Moore just edging out Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons, from Gerroa on the NSW south coast. Carissa made it onto last years Quiksilver Pro through a wildcard and ended up finishing second behind seven-time world champion Layne Beachley ? all at the tender age of 14. 

Carissa demonstrates the radical new way of surfing that is making a huge impact in women's surfing. Carissa and her fellow nominees are giving the boys of their age tough competition, evidenced by Carissa's win against the best male surfers (under 16) in Hawaii when she won the Quiksilver King of the Groms Hawaiian title last year.

The Snickers Next Big Thing (male) award went to Coolum's Julian Wilson, who was a stand-out winner ahead of Hawaiian Clay Marzo and Australia's Owen Wright, from Culburra on the NSW south coast. "In the past the award has been a really good indicator of who will be one of the world?s dominant surfers in the years to come and Julian was streets ahead in the voting," Fisher said.

Living Legacy Award

Mark Occhilupo capped off a stellar surfing career by being named the sixth person (and only the second surfer) to receive the Living Legacy Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to the sport. Fisher said the recently retired Occhilupo was a deserving recipient. 'The award honours those who have given more to surfing than they could ever hope to receive in return.

"There is no question Occy is the best-loved surfer in the world. Occy has had an amazing career spanning more than 20 years and has given us some of history's greatest surfing highlights," Fisher said.  

One that sticks out is his battle with Californian surfer Tom Curren at the 1986 Rip Curl Pro. "No matter who you talk to, everyone who was around to see it remembers their semi-final encounter as probably the best heat in the history of competitive surfing,"  Fisher said.  

Occhilupo made his way onto the world tour at 17 and was ranked the world number three in 1984. Many of the surfers on last year?s world tour grew up idolising Occhilupo and probably watched him in iconic surfing films of the 90s, such as Bunyip Dreaming, Green Iguana and Pump.

Occhilupo, who grew up in Sydney but now lives in Coolangatta, won the world title in 1999 (at age 33) and the Best Male Surfer in the Peer Poll Awards in the same year.  The other surfer to be recognised with the Lifetime Legacy award was four-time world champion Mark Richards in 2006. Other winners are Bushy Mitchell (2002), Peter Whittaker (2003), Mont and Lorraine Bryant (2004) and Greville Mitchell (2006).

"I'm pretty stoked to win the award. Lucky I am still alive. I have won a few awards since I have retired but this is right up there ' being voted by your peers. Thanks very much."

Most Under-rated Surfer

At 198 centimetres tall it is hard to miss Bede Durbidge. But the professional surfing fraternity believe he is being over-looked by many and they have voted the Queenslander surfing?s most under-rated.

Durbidge has beaten many of the world?s best surfers since entering the tour in 2005 and had two victories on the world tour in 2007 ? the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii and the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

It is the second time Durbidge has won the award,  having also won it in 2005. "I am climbing up the ratings so hopefully this is the last time I will win the award," he said.

Best Aerial Surfer

The 2006 Best Aerial Surfer, West Australian Taj Burrow, has been unseated from his position this year according to his peers by American Dane Reynolds, from Ventura in California.

Reynolds is one of the most radical surfers in the world. Although there are plenty of good aerial surfers, Dane's consistency in being able to land the most intricate manoeuvres is moves and somehow manages to ride out of them more often than any other surfer in the world. 

Best Tube Rider

Apart from Gilmore, the only other surfer to retain his or her title in the Surfing Life Peer Poll Awards was Hawaiian Bruce Irons, who was named 2006 Best Tube Rider.  Irons is renowned for his uncanny tube sense - that is surfer talk for being able to smell a tube out of the most unlikely waves. His fearlessness enables him to find a barrel in the most intimidating waves and find his way out of it.

Irons was presented with his award by Martin Potter. In his acceptance speech Irons recounted when as a 17-year-old trying to make it on the circuit how it had been Potter and other heroes of his Tom Carroll and Gary Elkerton who had, out of the blue, taken a young Irons out surfing ? just because they could.

"There I was, just a kid, and we were sitting in the back of Gary Elkerton's van and they were talking about the world tour. They took me out surfing and I just couldn't believe it. That is what surfing is all about, and that's why I love it."

Best World Championship Tour event

Organisers of the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast will be celebrating, having been named the best event on the world surfing tour by the world?s professional surfers.  The Quiksilver Pro is usually the first event of the pro tour each year, being held in February.  

Organiser Simone Haugh said the award was recognition for a lot of hard work by many people. "Having said that the organising committee has as much fun as the surfers themselves."

The event won the award ahead of the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa and Chile?s Rip Curl Pro Search.

Complete list of winners:

Best World Championship Tour
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Rip Curl Pro Search Chile, Quiksilver Pro
Winner: Quiksilver Pro

Best Tube Rider
Bruce Irons, Andy Irons, Bobby Martinez, Kelly Slater
Winner: Bruce Irons

Best Aerial Surfer
Taj Burrow, Bruce Irons, Josh Kerr, Dane Reynolds
Winner: Dane Reynolds

Most Underrated
Winner: Bede Durbidge

Lifetime Achievement
Winner: Mark Occhilupo

Snickers Next Big Thing Female
Laura Enever, Sally Fitzgibbons, Carissa Moore
Winner: Carissa Moore

Snickers Next Big Thing Male
Clay Marzo, Julian Wilson, Owen Wright
Winner: Julian Wilson

Best Female
Samantha Cornish, Stephanie Gilmore, Chelsea Hedges, Silvana Lima, Sofia Mulanovich
|Winner: Stephanie Gilmore

Best Male
Taj Burrow, Bede Durbidge, Mick Fanning, Andy Irons, Kelly Slater
Winner: Mick Fanning

www.surfinglife.com.au

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Lauren Fragapane

Awards - Surfersvillage