- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE2245
O’Donnell, Phyllis
(1937 – 2024)- Born 1 January 1937, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Died 6 November 2024, Pottsville, New South Wales, Australia
- Occupation Surfboard Rider
Summary
In 1964, at the age of twenty-seven, Phyllis O’Donnell won the first ever world championship in women’s surfing. For her efforts, apart from the glory, she won $250, a surfboard and numerous packets of cigarettes.
When she entered the sport, it was dominated by men, some of whom, she recalls, would take aim at her while she was paddling out to catch waves. She is delighted how far the sport has come and how the position of women in it has improved. ‘The girls, especially on the pro circuit, are absolutely fantastic.’
The Ma Bendall/Phyllis O’Donnell Memorial Interclub Contest with other women’s clubs is competed for once a year.
Events
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1964
Phyllis O’Donnell won the inaugural women’s World Championship Surfing Title at Manly Beach
Published resources
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Resource
- Surfing into the Olympics, The Sports Factor, 2006, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sportsfactor/stories/2006/1743137.htm
- Trove: O'Donnell, Phyllis (1937-), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-714078
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Site Exhibition
- She's Game: Women Making Australian Sporting History, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2007, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/sg/sport-home.html