The Double-Up

At a certain point in recent history finding a surf film, or even an edit, that predominantly featured women (or at least women surfing, as opposed to on the shore in various states of undress) was a very rare occurrence. Thankfully that all appears to be in the rearview as high-level surfing and fascinating stories just keep on coming from women at every level of surf media production. This week...

Featuring women for the first time in 16 years, the Outerknown Tahiti Pro did not disappoint in delivering us the action, drama, and yes, barrels, that we've been waiting for! This week Shan and Rach break down the event and delve into the different conversations it brought up. They also discuss the solidification of the Final 5, a confirmed Rookie of the Year in Gabriela Bryan, the debut of...

A few months ago this podcast came to a halt for a few reasons out of our control. We've worked it out, however, and we're back and not going anywhere anytime soon. This week Shan and Rach shake off the dust, gather their still-developing, yet somehow already rusty podcasting skills, and catch up with the latest in women's surf. Caity Simmers' series on Stab Premium, 'Ramb...

The second CT of the year has already wrapped and with it has come a trail of destruction courtesy of some of the newest members of the Championship Tour. With Rachael out for the week, Shan and Jess Grimwood comb through the wreckage to dissect what went down during what we're calling one of the better women's surf contests of recent history, an event that showcased the confidence and a...

The hits keep coming as surfing quickly moves on from Pipe to a social media storm around longboarding, the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach waiting period kicking off, surfing's inclusion as one of the 28 core Olympic sports, the always epic Australian Boardriders Battle and the return of regional QS events. Jess Grimwood joins us to give an update on the latter two subjects, including her precious N...

It's a very special episode this week as we have one of the legends of the sport, and possibly the greatest women's barrel-rider of all time, Rochelle Ballard, joining us to break down the very first women's Championship Tour event at Pipeline. Shan, Rach and Rochelle talk highlights and specifics of the Billabong Pro Pipeline, and both the history and future of women’s surfing in w...

While it's not the focus anyone wanted for the long overdue first women's CT to be held at surfing's most iconic break, you couldn't avoid the conversation no matter which surf community you were a part of, least of which the online - should the WSL have sent the women out to Pipeline on Monday, January 31, 2022? We gauged our listener's thoughts, read through all the surf...

The eyes of the surf world will be on Pipeline for the coming weeks as the women hit the water for their first official Championship Tour event, following 45 years of men's events. This is far from the first time women will have surfed or competed at Pipe however - a fact that's easy to overlook considering the absence of events on the world stage. In this week's Critical Conversati...

But seriously, is there anything Carissa didn't win in 2021? On this week's episode Shan & Rach talk Stab Surfers of the Year and Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. You'll never guess who won both. They also chat with Tru & Jesse Starling, the pro-surfing sister duo behind Murmur Mag and catch up in a Post Heat with CT veteran Paige Hareb after her long-awaited New Zealand Nation...

It was yet another massive week in women's surfing as we saw history being made on the North Shore yet again, most notably from Bethany Hamilton, while on the other side of the world Justine Dupont had a brush with death surfing one of the biggest days ever seen at Nazare. We also saw the 2022 Championship Tour get a shake-up with Caity Simmers officially passing up her spot on tour to the re...

For the first episode in our new Critical Conversation series Shan & Rach catch up with Isabella Nichols. As the only rookie in the women's field of the WSL Championship Tour during the most turbulent era of modern surfing, the former World Junior Champion had to learn the intense dynamics of tour life with constantly shifting expectations. Rising to the challenge, she managed a runner-up...

We may have taken a break over the holidays, but the North Shore surf season kicked on strong. While there has been plenty of incredible moments from women on the North Shore over the past decade, 2022 has brought a tidal wave of action, unseen in over a decade, that is continuing to gain momentum heading into the first events of the WSL Championship Tour later in the month. We look into the highl...

This week Shan and Rach are all about wrapping things up for the year. The Haleiwa Challenger, the Championship Tour class of 2022, the Nazare Challenge and the ISA World Para Surfing Championship are all tied in a neat little bow, before checking in for Post Heats with not one, not two, but three different surfers. Shan catches up with Liv Stone and Marta Paço after their gold medal wins in Pismo...

We’re in the thick of it this week as Shan is mid-event on the North Shore and Rach has finally reached the end of her jump-roping. The intro gets extended for some hilarious stories while Hot Topics shrinks to cover only the good stuff. We talk free-surfing greatness through Jaleesa Vincent’s new edit, the opening of the Northern Hemisphere’s big wave season (with slightly increased women’s parti...

Maybe one day we’ll be able to spend less time discussing equality in surfing, however we are not there yet. Front and center this week is a conversation around an air show that was announced for the NSSA Nationals in California. We also check out an epic new edit from Erin Brooks, chat with Laura Day, the host of fellow women’s surfing podcast Confessions of a Surf Lady, about a new venture she i...

The topics are diverse this week as we cover the latest edit from Vans - an all-woman affair affectionately curated by Lee-Ann Curren, take a deeper look into some comments from Steph Gilmore in a Joyce Magazine article, check in on the Saquarema Surf Festival and the Rip Curl GromSearch US national final, catch up with Selena Morgan, director of the Women's Surf Festival happening this weeke...

Gabriela Bryan and India Robinson have had extremely similar surfing trajectories so far, so it's no surprise that they ended up becoming great friends despite living in very different parts of the world. On this week's episode Shan & Rach catch up with the the two powerhouse surfers as they begin their North Shore training to discuss their competitive careers so far, current Challen...

A full range of topics are on the cards this week as we take on the Red Bull Big Wave Awards, the Yeti Australian Online Junior Championships, an array of new French National Champs and celebrate one new mother as well as a mother-to-be. We also chat with Jemima Robinson, founder of the She Surfs Film Tour which will hit the road in Australia next week, and catch up with Jess Grimwood on The Grind...

We’re keeping it simple this week, with many different conversations lined up for the coming weeks, Shan & Rach exclusively cover the top news from the world of women’s surfing before receiving a wrap of the Roxy Pro France from Jess Grimwood on The Grind. Starting with Morgan Maassen’s rumination on the Fierro sisters and their Tahitian island paradise in ‘Goddesses’, the two quickly switch g...

The Jeep Malibu Classic ran its course last week in mostly amazing conditions, crowning two world champs, along with a first time Longboard Tour event winner in Alice Lemoigne Rach and Shan were once again on opposite sides of the world and the screen. In this week’s episode they break down the event from their differing perspectives, giving their insights, critiques and feedback. For Hot Topics t...

If you want to rattle Shan and Rach's cage, apparently all you need to do is make a slight adjustment to the WSL rule book. After discovering last week that the Challenger Series will not allow for double qualifiers the two spent the week fuming and came to recording ready to vent. More than just a downer however they also talk through a few takeaways from the series so far, listing their hig...

The Longboard World Tour is back and it's possible that no one is more excited about it than Rachael Tilly, except that she's stuck in Australia and not competing for a world title in California! This week Rach and Shan break down both what the WSL judges and you as the viewer should be appreciating about traditional longboard surfing, and why they believe women's longboarding is th...

This year professional surfing doesn't slow down after the world champion is crowned, if anything it heats up, as the Challenger Series kicks off and we see 64 extremely hungry women vying for 6 positions on the 2022 Championship Tour. On this week's episode we catch up with two of those women, both incredible surfers and great friends, San Clemente's Kirra Pinkerton and Bali's...

Whether you were for it or against it, history went down this week as the Rip Curl WSL Finals ran in close to perfect conditions at Southern California's Lower Trestles and crowned Carissa Moore with her fifth world title. With Shannon on the ground as part of the WSL commentary team and Rachael on her couch in the middle of the night in Australia, the two share their differing perspectives o...

On this week’s episode of The Double-Up we preview the upcoming Rip Curl WSL Finals. Using a healthy dose of statistics (for Rachael) and gut feeling (for Shannon) the two diverge on how they think the day will play out for the Final 5 women in the hunt for the 2021 world title, with both arriving at surprising conclusions. For our Post-Heat we catch up with Alyssa Spencer, following her maiden QS...