NSW Champions of Sport – Layne Beachley AO

Join us as we celebrate the past winners of the NSW Sports Awards spanning over 20 years of sporting excellence and achievement – as we countdown to the inaugural NSW Champions of Sport, where, for the first time, the induction of new entrants into the NSW Hall of Champions will be combined with the NSW Sports Awards in one gala ceremony. 

In the lead up to the event, we will look back to our past crowned NSW Athlete of the Year and NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability winners as they share their great joys and triumphs as well as life post their ‘dream year’ with successes both on and off the field.

Sport: Surfing
NSW Athlete of the Year: 2000, 2002, 2003

Layne Beachley is arguably Australia’s greatest surfer of all time, having been the only surfer, male or female, to claim six consecutive world titles (1998 – 2003).

Beachley announced herself onto the international surfing stage when she made her professional debut on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)’s Women’s World Tour. By the time she was 20 Layne was already ranked within the top 10 surfers in the world.

Encountering two bouts of chronic fatigue, in 1993 and again in 1996, Beachley persevered to win her first of what was set to be six consecutive world titles in 1998.  Layne went on to win a seventh world title in 2006 before retiring from the ASP World Tour in 2008.

Amongst her surfing honours Layne was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 2006 as that year's Woman of the Year. In the same year she was inducted into both the Australian and US surfing halls of fame. In 2011 both the NSW Hall of Champions and Sport Australia Hall of Fame added Beachley as an inductee.

In 2004, Layne was given a wildcard entry into the Energy Australia Open held at Newcastle, one of the rare occasions a woman has competed in a men's surfing event.

Since her retirement in 2008, Layne has worked as a motivational speaker, trainer, philanthropist as well as a commentator in the media.

Her ongoing dedication to the surfing community was recognised at the 2015 Australia Day Honours, when Beachley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community through support for a range of charitable organisations including her own Aim for the Stars – Layne Beachley Foundation, as well as a mentor for women in sport, and to surfing as a world champion competitor.

The cream of NSW Sports stars from both past and present will be celebrated at the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony to be held at Rosehill Gardens on Monday 27 November 2017.

For more information on the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony and to secure your seat visit: www.sportnsw.com.au/2017ChampionsofSport