As a young girl at Kingscliff Primary School, Stephanie Gilmore dreamt of being a famous sportsperson.
“Back then I thought I wanted to be an Olympian,” she laughed.
“I was Inspired by Cathy Freeman or someone like that.”
At the tender-age of 23, the Murwillumbah-born, Kingscliff-raised Tweed resident is arguably as famous as Freeman and is inspiring a whole new generation of Kingcliff Primary girls to look up to her and dream.
She has been on the World Tour just four years and already has four titles and now, starting at the Roxy Pro on her home-break at Snapper Rocks, she is hunting for her fifth.
Not that it has been all smooth sailing, with Steph still carrying the scars of a home invasion at her Tweed unit in December which left her with a fractured wrist and cuts and bruising.
The incident left many doubting that she would be ready for this event but, while she admits she is still feeling the pain, Steph said she has probably benefitted from the break and before the contest she admitted she was raring to get back into the water.
“Expectation for the event? Not that high I think. But I get to surf again so I’m 100 per cent happy,” she said.
The enforced lay-off was Steph’s first real break
since leaving Kingscliff
High and starting this international odyssey which has taken her all around the world and given her an amazing and unheard of four consecutive titles in a row.
She said it had given her a chance to visit with her family, who still live at Kingscliff, and really reflect back over the past four years and just where she had been and what she had done.
But of course all the time the surf breaks of the Tweed Coast were just out the window calling her back.
“We take it for granted being able to do it every day and when you can’t, it’s like wow, I can’t believe how much I miss surfing.’’
Steph said the break may have been a blessing in disguise and has made her even hungrier to succeed.
Not that the break between seasons was a total write-off for Steph. After all, it’s not every day you sign on with Quiksilver, who also sponsor that other multiple world champion, Kelly Slater.
The new five-year deal sees her become an ambassador for the brand and coincided with the debut of a new global girls’ line, targetting 18- to 24-year-old females.
Not that she’s not already a great ambassador for her sport – spreading the word both locally and globally – and not always in a heralded fashion.
Last year she donated a swag of items to the Kingscliff Primary School raffle (through her mum who still works there) as part of their annual school spring festival not for the publicity, but to help out.
It’s little wonder there are young girls at her old school now, not wanting to grow up to be Cathy Freeman, but Stephanie Gilmore.
