Jodie Cooper

Jodie Cooper, born on 4 May 1964 in Albany, Western Australia, is a former champion surfer who won 13 international events and finished runner-up in 13 more between 1983 and 2002. Her wins came in Australia, Japan, Hawaii and mainland United States, although she never won the world women's title. She started as an amateur in 1981 and turned professional in 1983 with second place at the Bells Beach Surf Classic. She ended 1984 ranked fourth in the world, took her first professional win at Huntington Beach early in 1985, won the World Cup in Hawaii that year and finished 1985 ranked second. She quit the world tour in 1994 and retired in 2002 after a back injury, having earned US$148,685 in career prize money. The Jodie Cooper Award, first given in 1999, honors the Western Australian Female Surfer of the Year, and she was the first openly gay World Tour surfer.