Layne Beachley’s journey in and out of the surf has been an enduring source of inspiration for Australians.
As a seven-time world surfing champion, including a stunning six titles in succession, Beachley helped to transform the sport.
However it is her capacity to overcome adversity in her life – and bravely speak about it – as much as her stellar sporting career, which will forever be her legacy.
It’s why Beachley is a fitting winner of 2025’s The Dawn – an award named after Sport Australia Hall of Fame Legend Dawn Fraser – which honours an individual or a team for their bravery, courage and capacity to change sport for the betterment of others.
As Beachley explained on her own website: “Women hold up half the sky, yet we fail to receive half of the opportunities advanced to men.”
“Fortunately, there are female pioneers, trailblazers and renegades who shatter this belief and pave the way for future generations of female leaders to follow.”
In a life and career marked by triumphs and challenges, her resilience, fierce determination and a commitment to empower others has always shone through.
Like Fraser, she challenged the status quo of her chosen sport, displayed a never-say-die attitude in overcoming hurdles to achieve greatness, and inspired others with her deeds during and after her surfing career.
Beachley’s rarefied place in world sport has never been in question. But her status in Australia received special recognition when she was voted third – behind No.1 Fraser and athletics great Betty Cuthbert – as Australia’s greatest ever female athlete at an awards ceremony in Canberra in 2013.
The poll was decided by a combination of public vote, input from athletes and research conducted by advocacy group Sports for Women, highlighting Beachley’s exalted status.
Her challenges were personal and professional, and each combined to make her tougher, stronger and better.
She was adopted at birth after her 17-year-old unmarried mother felt she had no option after being the victim of a date rape.
Then her adoptive mother Valerie Beachley passed away suddenly when she was only six, and she was brought up by her adoptive father Neil, alongside her brother.
She fell in love with the beach, learning to surf not long after she learnt to swim. And it was there that she felt a sense of belonging combined with a surge of freedom.
But the challenges on the waves were one thing; the challenge of taking on the boys in the surf was something else.
That steeled her resolve even more to be the best she could be as she blazed a trail for the next generation of female surfers in the process.
She turned professional at 16, and a decade later won her first world championship, going on to win the title six years in a row, from 1998 to 2003, before a serious neck injury and torn medial ligaments in her knee brought her to the crossroads.
Then, refusing to bend to the physical challenges or the threat of younger opponents, some of whom took on the sport because of her, Beachley made a triumphant return to become world surfing champion for a seventh time – at the age of 34.
Her influence has extended to philanthropic endeavours, including the Layne Beachley Aim For the Stars Foundation and the Awake Academy, as well as her advocacy for gender equality and mental health.
She has also been the Chair of Surfing Australia.
As Beachley explained: “A willingness to fail, consistently challenge myself and spending quality time with quality people who believe in me more than I believed in myself enabled me to overcome those challenges and taught me to choose a more positive mindset.
“Choice, not chance, determines our destiny.”
