Surf Girl – July 2019

52 SurfGirl Magazine

LIFE

IN THE

FAST LANE

French surfer Marie Delanne-Pascal is the Marketing

Director at Rip Curl Europe and mum to two kids, Lee-

Ann and Nathan. We got to chat with Marie about her

introduction to surfing, the crazy lifestyle of the ’80s and

her life with world champion Tom Curren.

50s

photos SYLVAIN CAZENAVE

M

arie, when and where did you get into

surfing?

The very first time I was on a surfboard, I

was about 4 years old. I’m the youngest of

a family of eight, and my older sisters (they were 20 years

older than me and two of them surfed in the 60s and 70s),

took me once in a while on their longboards at La Côte

des Basques in Biarritz. I remember it really well as it was

so exciting. Then I really started surfing on a regular basis

when I moved from Bordeaux to Biarritz at 15 years old.

Were there many female surfers when you first

started?

Not many, but there were always some women surfing.

Lisa Andersen was the first girl to surf better than men, so

her surfing was a revelation. Also, there were some other

very gifted European surf girls: Cathy Monge was charging

in the 80s, and Anne-Gaelle Hoarau, from Reunion, came

second at the Amateur World Championship and won a

Pro event in Saint Leu in Reunion. There were also some

girls from the UK that surfed to a good level.

When did you start entering surf contests and what

was your career high point?

I entered the French Championship at 16 years old,

then got into the French team and came second at the

European Championship in Ireland. It was big and we were

all freaking out... someone lent me a gun, which helped

a lot. I was also second a couple of times in France – I’m

a very good second! With the French team I went to the

World Championships in LA and Puerto-Rico, and I won

the Rincon Classic in California, which was a blast.

Who were the standout surfers when you were

competing?

Among the pros, the older surfers were Margo Oberg, Rell

Sun, and other super inspiring women surfing Sunset and

Haleiwa. In Europe, definitely Anne-Gaelle Hoarau was

outstanding and pushed the girls’ level to another notch.

But there were also the young talents like Kim Mearig,

Wendy Botha, Pam Burridge and Frieda Zamba – the first

generation with a technical approach to surfing with great

style.

World champion Tom Curren was a god amongst

surfers in the 80s – how did you meet and when did

you get married?

When I was 15, my dad passed away and it was a great