Tuesday, November 24, 1998

Photo courtesy Roxy Pro
Layne Beachley topped Lisa Andersen's 1996
season earnings of $55,510 by winning
$65,000 already this season.

---

Beachley hopes
for perfect end
to season

She already has the world title
and now wants the Triple
Crown of Surfing

By Greg Ambrose
Special to the Star-Bulletin

In a hectic year when her biggest dream came true, there was one moment during the summer when Layne Beachley was able to savor her life.

She was in California after traveling around the world to compete, and was just about to head back on the road for the exhausting European leg of the World Championship Tour.

Beachley had just won the OP Pro at Huntington Beach, and in rare moment of relaxation, it struck her.

"All I had to do was get two equal thirds in France and I would win it all," she said. "I spent the morning thinking about how close I was to being world champion, and that there was so much potential for the future."

Beachley quickly won the title, and now one task remains to make it a nearly perfect season for her. "I'm glad I got the world title over with so quickly. If I won the title in Hawaii, it might take away the impact if I win the Triple Crown again."

But even if Beachley wins the Roxy Pro contest and the Triple Crown of Surfing title, a perfect season is beyond her reach. With a victory she would still fall one win short of Wendy Botha's 1989 record of seven contest victories in a year.

However, Beachley did surpass Lisa Andersen's 1996 season earnings of $55,510 by winning $65,000. And there is still one contest remaining.

Brazil's Maria Tita Tavares did Beachley a favor when she slipped past the world champion to snag some high-scoring waves and win the G-Shock Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa. The shocking victory lit a fire under the Australian that has her burning to win her second straight Roxy Pro and Triple Crown of Surfing title.

Tavares is in first place in the race for the Triple Crown, and that suits Beachley just fine.

"I'm harder on myself when I come from behind," she said.

"I'm in a good position. Not having the Triple Crown sealed is frustrating, and it will make my competition strategy fiercer. I've got to surf Sunset every day, be more ferocious and more aggressive for the contest. I can't take my dominance at Sunset for granted, considering how much everyone wants to beat me."

Beachley is third in line for the Triple Crown, and eager to knock Tavares off her pedestal. But Tavares will have to qualify for a wild card slot in the Roxy Pro through trials competition, as it is an elite World Championship Tour event.

Next season, Beachley will have to deal with Tavares during every event, as Tavares qualified for the WCT with her victory in the Hawaiian Pro.

Even if Tavares does not earn a spot in the Roxy Pro, there is a mob of women eager to best Beachley at her favorite spot, including former world champion Pauline Menczer.

While honoring Beachley's prowess, Haleiwa surfer Megan Abubo also is keen to topple the champion.

"Everyone is going to be looking at Layne because she won last year, but everyone is totally beatable," said Abubo, who is running fifth in the Triple Crown race.

"Sunset is such a challenging wave. I just love being out there and seeing the fear in everyone, and even the fear in myself," she said, vowing to surf Sunset three times a day every day until the contest begins.

Rochelle Ballard, Hawaii's highest rated pro wahine surfer, also is keen to joust with Beachley. "We're all hungry to beat her. She brings good competition into it."