Surf History: Jodie Barsby, Crescent Head Local Legend

How long have you been surfing? 

I actually started bodyboarding at first. I was probably eight or nine when I started bodyboarding in my hometown at Crescent Head, Australia. It’s only about a five minute walk to the beach. I would walk across the golf course and go out to Crescent Point. I learned on my Dad’s old Peter Clarke single fin, and then when I was about 13, mom and dad got me a new longboard for Christmas. The board was shaped by Bob Kennerson, and I went surfing nearly everyday just loving it.

When did you enter your first competition?

I started competing at 15. My first event was in 1996 at our local event, the Crescent Head Malibu Classic. The following year I competed in the Malfunction and that was my first big event. It was all the pro surfers like Bonga Perkins, Jason Blewitt, Garrett Donavan, and Ray Gleave. I ended up getting third surfing against Australia’s best women surfers: Sandy Day, Jenny Sheehan, Louise White, Sandy Knight. Those women were the surfers that kept women’s longboarding going throughout the 80s and the 90s.

What was one of the most memorable moments from your professional career?

When I ended up getting third [at the Malfunction], I was shocked because I didn’t know how well it was actually going to go, or even how far I was going to go. I was just surfing, just having fun, and then I got on a tap on the shoulder during the presentation. It was one of my mates, and he said, “Jo, you need to come over here.” Bonga Perkins had come over and we were just talking, I was so oblivious, and Bonga had his board laying out and he said: “I ought to give you my board as an encouragement award.” It was the board he had won that year too, and I’ve still got it. That was the turning point for me to be a lot hungrier and to get more involved in surfing and to see how far I could go with competing. That’s probably the best moment out of my whole career of surfing.

What was one of the biggest achievements in your professional surfing career?

The Noosa comp had always been an open men’s division only, but they ended up having the first year of a pro women’s division in 1999. I competed in it when I was 16, and little did I know that I was going to win. I was underaged and we couldn’t pop champagne or anything like that, so I ended up getting chocolate milk poured all over me on a hot day. The smell of it wasn’t really good afterwards [laughs].

How has your relationship to surfing changed?

I haven’t really been surfing that much in the last couple of years cause I’ve had injuries. I was out of the water for probably a good three, four months. I sort of went back in September, but it just didn’t feel right. It becomes harder, mentally, because in your mind you know how well you can surf and you don’t surf the way that you used to… I just try to overcome those obstacles. I still love the ocean, it's just a matter of having to reconnect with the water again. I’m still a young buck! I want to motivate myself to surf and feel the love for it again. 

What are some of the changes you’ve seen in women’s surf culture over the decades, the last three decades I guess?

The equality of women’s surfing like equal pay, whereas before women wouldn’t get anything. When you’re in the water, there is still that mentality of not getting as many waves as the guys do. There are some surfers that still say sexist stuff like that. But, there are guys all about positivity and encouraging women to catch waves, to drop in on them. But, it has changed dramatically in some ways; some positive change, but there’s still challenges that need to eventually be rectified and such. Time will tell.

Was there anyone in your professional surfing, other than Bonga Perkins, that really propelled your career and stoke?

I do have to acknowledge Chris Bystorm who was an amazing videographer. He made movies back in the 70s up until the late 90s like: Longboarding is Not a Crime, Full Cycle, Blazing Boards. But he ended up making a book that was called The Glide, and there are a couple of photos of me published in there. That helped with building my career, and he saw something in me that I really didn’t. Unfortunately he passed away, but still to this day I’ve always acknowledged him for giving me that platform. I was only just a grommet, so amazed, you know? To be amongst all the women’s surfers from all over the globe, I was over the moon, and Dad would always collect all the magazines I was in.

Did you ever feel pressure to perform to a certain standard from your parents?

My mom just loved watching me surf, and Dad would tend to forget that while he’s videoing it’s also recording what he’s saying. If I fell off a wave, sometimes he made comments like: “why’d you fall off” or “you should be doing this, you should be doing that” and that really bothered me. Especially while I’m surfing, I could always feel it in the back of my head—whether I was surfing for fun or competing. It didn’t bother me that he was watching, but just thinking of him saying things really got to me. There were moments where I had to tell him how I felt and that took the fun out of surfing as well. 

Do you have any advice for people who are trying to overcome negative voices?

My advice would be to surround yourself with a circle of friends who love you, support you, and are going to be there for you no matter what. Don’t be scared to talk to anyone and open up. Also, listening to podcasts! It’s only just in the last few years that I started listening to podcasts about empowerment and it has been very helpful for me. Jay Shetty is a great resource on how to overcome or how to be your better self. Things work out and unfortunately sometimes things don’t work out, it sort of sets you back a bit, but then you become better. 

What is your favorite part of surfing?

The best thing is being in the water of course. As soon as you get into the water, you enter a different realm; all that stress that you’ve had, it’s lifted off your shoulders and now you’re just relaxing. Catching waves, sharing waves and sharing stoke with your mates out in the water or  seeing nearly every surfer with a smile on their face. Catching waves, it’s just like painting a canvas; doing what you see and following through on that vision you’ve got in your head. Once you’ve got a taste of surfing, you just want more and more of it! That’s, the love part and what surfing is all about; it’s all about having that addiction to catch waves, but share fun and love with everyone else in the water. I think I’ve covered all your questions, but I just want to mention to anyone out there whether you’re an indigenous surfer or not an indigenous surfer… never be afraid to have a go at surfing. 

Thanks to: Siggi Bengston, Maija Fiedelholtz, Sophia Knox, and Becca Kauffman for copy editing/editing help.