Beachley Classic<\/p>\n
Stop No. 5 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour<\/p>\n
Manly, Sydney, Australia<\/p>\n
October 9 \u0096 14, 2008<\/p>\n
7X ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley Announces Retirement<\/p>\n
\nPictured: Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, former seven-time ASP Women\u0092s World Champion and current No. 3 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour, officially announced her retirement from full-time competition today, effective at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
MANLY BEACH, Australia (Friday, October 10, 2008) \u0096 Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, former seven-time ASP Women\u0092s World Champion and current No. 3 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour ratings, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year.\u0093I feel like now is a really good time, even though I am in my career best form, because I am an all-or-nothing kind of girl and to achieve the goals I set for myself in surfing, I have to give it my all and I\u0092m not,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093I have to be honest with myself \u0096 I\u0092m not commiting 100% time and energy and effort and focus into winning world titles. It doesn\u0092t mean that I can\u0092t win world titles, but my priorities are beginning to shift and my focus and my passion in business and charity work and my ambassador roles is beginning to have more appeal to me than competing for a living. I feel like I\u0092ve achieved everything that I\u0092ve wanted to and that it is good to go out while I\u0092m still in top form.\u0094<\/p>\n
Beachley\u0092s announcement comes as a surprise to the surfing community, given that the iconic natural-footer is surfing better than ever and currently challenging for the ASP Women\u0092s World Title once again, sitting in No. 3 spot on the ratings at present.<\/p>\n
\u0093I feel like I\u0092m surfing the best I have in my whole career,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093Nothing has really changed on tour except for my attitude. It\u0092s my lack of commitment to winning. I base my choices off my experiences and my experience has told me that you have to be 100% focused and also love you\u0092re doing. Even though I love what I do, I\u0092m beginning to love what I\u0092m doing out of the water more. My passion for competitive surfing has been diluted, and to achieve success and to win world titles, you can\u0092t afford for it to be diluted too much. So now I\u0092ve had to make a decision and I\u0092m convinced I\u0092m doing the right thing.\u0092<\/p>\n
The Sydney-sider is the most accomplished female surfer in the history of the sport, winning a record seven ASP Women\u0092s World Titles (1998-2004, 2006), scalping 29 elite tour victories, and collecting countless accolades as one of surfing\u0092s most recognizable figures.<\/p>\n
\u0093There\u0092s been millions of highlights,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093I think every time that I stopped in my tracks and had to pinch myself and ask \u0091is this real?\u0092 have been the highlights of my life. Finding myself in the most random places on Earth, donning a bikini with a board under my arm and just staring out into the ocean in disbelief that I get to do that for a living. One of the greatest achievements was winning my first event back in 1993 and winning my first ASP Women\u0092s World Title back in 1998. Those were both enormous acheivements for me.\u0094 <\/p>\n
While stepping away from full-time professional surfing, Beachley hasn\u0092t ruled out donning the jersey again should she receive an invite, and will continue to be a force both in and out of the surfing world with her clothing line, her numerous charities and other high-profile projects.<\/p>\n
\u0093I have my own brand, Beachley Athletics, which I really want to put a lot more time and energy and effort into,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093I don\u0092t think it\u0092s achieving the success it deserves because I can\u0092t commit enough resources to it. I have my charity, Aim for the Stars. I\u0092ve just begun promoting my book, Beneath the Waves. I will still stage the Beachley Classic. I love women\u0092s surfing. I\u0092m really passionate about it. Just because I\u0092m walking away from the Tour doesn\u0092t mean I\u0092m walking away from women\u0092s surfing. I\u0092ll still be there as a supporter and a believer and also pursuing a career in the media.\u0094<\/p>\n
Beachley is competing this week at her signature event, the Beachley Classic, held in Manly, Australia.<\/p>\n
\u0093I feel like I\u0092ve created a legacy and that\u0092s something to be incredibly proud of,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093I\u0092ve instilled hunger and passion into the future generations of female competitive surfing coming up through the ranks. I know Steph (Gilmore) looks at me and wants what I got. It was Lisa Andersen before me that gave me the motivation to become seven-times ASP Women\u0092s World Champion. That kind of drive and dedication that it takes to be a champion is the legacy I think I am leaving behind and it\u0092s something I\u0092m very proud of.<\/p>\n
For more information on Layne Beachley, log onto www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beachley Classic Stop No. 5 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour Manly, Sydney, Australia October 9 \u0096 14, 2008 7X ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley Announces Retirement Pictured: Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, former seven-time ASP Women\u0092s World Champion and current No. 3 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour, officially announced … Continue reading “7X ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley Announces Retirement”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}