Born Albany, W.A.
4 May, 1964
Jodie Cooper is widely regarded as one of the finest surfers to have never won the women’s world title. Learning her craft in the powerful surf of Western Australia’s south-west, she became renowned as a big wave rider on the professional circuit and was recognised as the sport’s best female freestyle rider of the 1980’s.
She started competing in amateur events in 1981, before making the transition to professional ranks at the age of 19. She finished second in her inaugural professional event, at Bell’s Beach in Victoria in 1983. The following year, she ended the season at number four in the world, having finished in the top five in each of the ten events she contested.
At the opening tour event of 1985, at Huntington Beach in California, in waves that peaked at four metres, she broke through for her first professional win. She continued to perform well throughout the year, finishing second in another event and also registering three third placings. A win in the World Cup in Hawaii at the end of the year saw her finish 1985 with a career high ranking of number two in the world.
She slipped to number three in 1986, despite closing out the year with back-to-back victories in the Quit Classic in Victoria and the Diet Coke Classic in New South Wales. During the next six years, she never ranked lower than number four in the world. In 1992, she won consecutive events in Hawaii. At the end of the 1993 season she retired after 11 years on the world professional circuit. She bowed out in style by winning the last event she contested in professional ranks, the World Cup event in Hawaii. It was the fourth time she had claimed this title.
During her career, cooper won 13 international events, claiming titles in Australia, Japan, Hawaii and the mainland United States. She was a runner-up on a further 13 occasions. In 1994, she was induced as a life member of the Association of Surfing Professionals.