Rochelle Ballard

Rochelle Ballard (born February 13, 1971) is an American professional surfer and a veteran of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour. She co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and has appeared in several movies and television shows, most notably, Blue Crush, Step Into Liquid, and Beyond the Break.

Ballard was born Rochelle Gordines in Montebello, California on February 13, 1971. Her parents moved to the island of Kauai in Hawaii when she was six months old. With the encouragement of Margo Oberg, Ballard started surfing at 12 years old.[citation needed ]

Ballard began competing in local surfing competitions and then advancing to state competitions, and then on to nationals, and then on to the world amateur titles where she placed fourth in the World in 1988 and 1990. She qualified to surf professionally on the World Championship Tour in 1991.

Ballard worked with her husband to produce the movie Blue Crush in 2002, as well as serving as a stunt double in it.[citation needed ] She also starred in A Girl's Surf Addiction, a surf film that O'Neill released in 2004, and helped produce a "yoga for surfers" video series.[citation needed ] In 2001, she starred in the surfing documentary 7 Girls. She co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and, together with O'Neill, launched the Rochelle Ballard Surf Camp series which focuses on advanced surfing techniques, cross-training, and education.[citation needed ]

In 2012, she became the ISA World Masters World Champion. During her years on tour, Ballard won seven world championship events and was runner-up to the World Championship title in 2004. In 1997, at the Billabong Pro at Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Australia, Ballard scored two perfect 10-barrel rides against Layne Beachley in the semi-finals and went on to win the event after beating Lisa Anderson in the finals. Ballard continues to hold the women's world record for scoring two perfect 10s in a single heat.

Ballard has been featured on local and national news and in magazines such as Surfing, TW Surf, Surfer, SG Magazine, Surfing Girl, Women Outside, Women's Sports and Fitness, Fit Magazine, Sports Illustrated Women, People, and National Geographic.[citation needed ]

In 1991 Rochelle married cinematographer, Bill Ballard.

She currently resides on the island of Kauai, where she operates a surf, yoga, and wellness business called Surf Into Yoga.

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