Silvana Lima

Silvana Lima is a Brazilian professional surfer born on 29 October 1984 in Paracuru, Ceará, where she grew up in a snack shack on the beach owned by her parents. At seven she fixed a homemade fin to a piece of wood and taught herself to surf, and she received her first real surfboard at fourteen. On the elite women's world tour she placed ninth in 2006, third in 2007, runner-up in 2008 and 2009, fourth in 2010 and fifth in 2011. Despite those results she struggled to find a sponsor for years, spoke publicly about the way surf brands favoured models over talent, and bred French bulldogs to pay for her travel. She represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where surfing made its Olympic debut.