Australian Transgender Surfer Destroys Women’s Competition in Surfing Championships

A transgender surfer in Western Australia has become the first person in history to win both the men’s and women’s divisions of the sport.

43-year-old Sasha Jane Lowerson is a former men’s champion and crushed the competition in the Open Women’s and Open Logger divisions at the West Coast Suspensions Longboard and Logger State Championships.

'This means so much': Sasha Jane Lowerson on paving the way for trans women in surfing https://t.co/TbhAzbXV9Z

— Margaret River Mail (@AMR_Mail) May 19, 2022

Former men's surfing champion absolutely crushes the competition like never before in Australia, wins multiple titles at age 43!. . . . Oh, I should mention he's now competing as a woman… https://t.co/fiu4ZBC4pW

— Stonewall Jackson (@Stonewall1776) May 20, 2022

https://twitter.com/OkBiology/status/1527421699003760656

American Greatness reported:

Lowerson, whose birth name is reportedly Ryan Egan, won the open women’s competitions easily. The results weren’t even close.

The World Surf League shows Ryan Egan’s stats in the Men’s Longboard Tour through 2020, and lists him as being six feet tall and weighing 187 lbs.

Ryan Egan won the men’s championship in 2019, two years before he changed his name and transitioned to a woman.

A bio of the surfer at the time describes him as having a wife and daughter in Mandurah, a small surf town south of Perth Western Australia.

Egan is quoted as saying, “there’s a lot waves in Western Australia that fire and we are known for our slabs, but we also have a lot of fun long points too, that suit fish boards and long boards, we don’t miss out on our fill of stoke over here in West Oz.”

news.com.au added:

“To be the first transgender woman competing in surfing hasn’t been an easy ride emotionally, but the amount of support I’ve been showed has been phenomenal and I’m so grateful to be involved, welcomed and embraced within the longboard community in Australia,” Lowerson said, as reported by The Australian.

Earlier this year, Lowerson approached Surfing Australia about returning to competition in women’s events and the sport welcomed her back with open arms.

“I’ve been surfing since I was a little boy,” Lowerson said on a YouTube podcast.

“I was a good junior surfer, I was surfing against grown men at 14 and winning.

“I knew at a very young age that I wasn’t a normal boy.

“For the best part of (my life) I thought she (Sasha) could never live, I had to put her in a box. That is something a lot of girls experience.

“About every two years I’d want to kill myself and I’ve had a good go at it.

“I had a real wake up call (suicide attempt in 2020), then I thought, ‘What are you doing? You are living a lie’.

“I made a decision to be truthful to me and the world and that is when I decided to unveil Sasha as such.

“I started a medical transition at the start of 2021. Up until then I hid from people surfing, I stopped surfing for six months. I basically took six months out of the water.

“Then I woke up one morning and said, ‘No it’s been my life, I can’t just walk away from my passion and life’.

“We are about to start formal talks with the World Surf League about the inclusion of diverse genders.”

Open Women’s Longboard results

1. Sasha Jane Lowerson (Mandurah) — 14.70

2. Georgia Young (Perth) — 10.63

3. Samantha Vanderford (Greenhead) — 9.27

4. Shae Sheridan (Dunsborough) — 8.67

Open Women’s Logger results

1. Sasha Jane Lowerson (Mandurah) — 13.97

2. Emily Gibbs (Dunsborough) — 11.37

3. Georgia Young (Perth) — 10.73

4. Shae Sheridan (Dunsborough) — 7.57