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    5 kickass LGBQTIA+ watersports athletes you should know

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    Happy Pride Month! In case you didn’t know, June is LGBQTIA+ Pride month. Over the next few weeks we will be celebrating the LGBTQ community and spotlighting achievements in a number of ways.

     

    Firstly we’ll be running a mini campaign on social media where we give visibility to the quotes of memorable LGBQT personas and allies, to inspire our waterwomen community.

     

    Secondly, we’ll be thinking deeply about what we can do to collectively support the LGBQT community via the BlueBound Women community, and the services that we offer. For example, we are considering how to attract more LGBQTIA+ authors to write about their experiences.

     

    Thirdly, we decided to highlight some of the incredible LGBQT athletes out there in watersports in this article. So let’s get to it!


    Keala Kennedy – World Champion surfer and equal pay activist
     
    Beginning her surf career as aged 17, Keala has won so many titles it’s hard to keep up: the Gallaz Women’s Pro, Billabong Pro Tahiti, Roxy Pro Fiji, Billabong Pro, was named ESPN’s “Female Surfer of the Year”, won the “XXL Women’s Performance Award” three times… and many more! She was also first woman to get towed into the huge waves at Teahupoo in Tahiti, and has broken big wave records. Apart from surfing, she is a talented actress featuring in surf films, and a skilled DJ having opened for Snoop Dogg and Jimmy Eat World. Keala was also one of the minds behind the fight for equal pay for women in competitions, and in 2019, Keala claimed the Women’s Big Wave World Title.


    Tyler Wright – World Champion surfer and activist
     
    Australian surfer Tyler Wright has had an amazing career, with multiple achievements, including two World Titles under her belt. Unfortunately Tyler has been through serious health issues, battling a virus and crippling post-viral syndrome, which put her surfing on hold for two years. Finally in 2019 she came back, but (as she mentioned here) underweight and adjusting to her new body. In 2020, she also made made surfing history when she became the first professional surfer to compete with a Pride flag on her jersey, and she also took a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter during her heat at the Tweed Coast Pro. Taylor was subsequently awarded Surfer Today’s only ‘Athlete of the Year’, having pulled all categories into one award for the year.
     


    Cori Schumacher – World Champion Longboarder and Politian

    Coming from California, Cori is three-time World Longboard Champion. In 2011, she publicly boycotted the World Women’s Longboard Championship in China (and other World Longboard Tour events), for political reasons, stated in this article (such as lack of transparency, human rights, and one-child policy). She has also been vocal about the hypersexualisation of female surf athletes throughout the years. In 2016, Cori was elected to Carlsbad City Council, and has spent as many years as a government official, showing how pro surfers can be powerful political actors.


    Diana Nyad – The first person to swim non-stop 110 miles between Florida & Cuba
     
    After trying this feat many times, including in her 20s, she was previously beaten by severe jellyfish stings (which she did a TED talk on here). Having taken a break and gathered a new team, on September 2, 2013, Diana, aged 64 and on her 5th attempt, successfully swam this distance without the protection of a shark cage. Afterwards she said: “I wanted it to be a lesson for my life that says, be fully engaged. Be so awake and alert and alive every minute of every waking day”. Diana is well known for her ‘seize the day’ attitude, having set a marathon swimming record, speaking up as an abuse survivor and her journalistic work for many causes.


    Martha McCabe – Canadian Olympic swimmer
     
    Coming from Toronto, Martha has qualified to compete in and won so many races, despite set backs. To name just a few, she took bronze at the 2011 FINA World Championships, and then qualified for her first Olympic Games in 2012. She was subsequently named 2012 Female Swimmer of the Year at Swimming Canada’s Big Splash Awards. In 2014, she was hardly recovering from a stress fracture in her right clavicle, from which she couldn’t even lift her arms over her head, and still earned a spot on the teams for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships. Martha also co-captained the Canadian Olympic swimming team at Rio 2016, where she swam her last competitive race.

    If you also this article, please share it to bring more visibility to these incredible sportswomen and inspire the next generation!

     

    Who are your favourite LGBQT watersports athletes? Let us know on Instagram!

    • BlueBound Women is a global community of women who are bound together and connected by their love of the water, whether that be the ocean, sea or lake.

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