The best female surfers in the world are locked in and the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour looks to be one for the record books.

Eleven ASP Women’s World Titles will be represented over four competitors in reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 20, former seven-time ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, 2004 ASP Women’s World Champion Sofia Mulanovich (PER), 25, and returning 2005 ASP Women’s World Champion and 2009 ASP Dream Tour wildcard Chelsea Hedges (AUS), 25.

“After a three-tier process including surfer, ASP technical committee and ASP Board votes, Chelsea Hedges has been ed as the 2009 ASP Wildcard,” Brooke Farris, ASP Women’s World Tour Manager, said. “The former ASP Women’s World Champion will bring experience, a solid backhand attack and a baby to the 2009 ASP Dream Tour. After finishing 8th in 2007, Chelsea took a year off to give birth to her daughter Mieka. With her undeniable talent and past results, Hedges was a strong ion.”

Despite announcing 2008 as her last season as a full-time member of the ASP Women’s World Tour, Beachley will also return to competition for events.

“Announcing her retirement from full-time ASP World Tour competition last October, Layne Beachley will be using her ASP World No. 4 seed to surf at some of her favorite Dream Tour locations,” Beachley said. “Hunting her 30th career win, I suspect we will see Layne surfing at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach and her own event the Beachley Classic at Manly.”

In addition to the slew of returning champions, the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour will also boast the arrival of a new guard in women’s surfing, led by 2008 ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) Winner Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 18.

“With five fresh new faces onboard, the line-up for the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour is incredibly exciting,” Farris said. “It will be interesting to see how quickly the rookies adapt to life on the ASP Dream Tour and who will really try to shake two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Steph Gilmore off the podium.”

Fitzgibbons will be joined by fellow newcomers Bruna Schmitz (BRA), 18, Paige Hareb (NZL), 18, Alana Blanchard (HAW), 18, and Coco Ho (HAW), 17.

Next season’s ASP Women’s World Tour will be comprised of eight Australians, three Hawaiians, three Brazilians, one Peruvian, one South African and one New Zealander, and will take the ASP Top 17 to Australia, Brazil, Peru, “Somewhere” and Hawaii over eight events.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North America has crowned its 2008 regional champions in the men’s and women’s ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS), Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS), and Pro Junior divisions and now that the 2008 season is in the record books and the dust has settled, the nation boasts Patrick Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), 23, and Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), 17, atop the ASP WQS regional ratings, while Cory Arrambide (Ventura, CA), 19, and Christa Alves (Cocoa Beach, FL), 19, claimed this year’s ASP North America Pro Junior Series titles. In the ASP LQS, America saw Taylor Jensen (Oceanside, CA), 24, and Cori Schumacher (Carlsbad, CA), 31, claim this year’s regional longboard championships.

All of North America’s top competitors strive each year to attain a center stage position in their respective divisions. The ASP WQS acts as a gateway for the ASP World Tour and Women’s World Tour, while junior surfers tackle their regional events in an attempt to earn a spot at the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships. The ASP LQS acts similarly, as surfers work to gain a spot on the ASP World Longboard Tour (WLT). Each surfer is fighting to earn the right to advance to the next level of competition, giving them a chance to win an ASP World Championship in each of their respective divisions.

Gudauskas, who put together an amazing season throughout the year, finished 17th overall on the ASP WQS globally and claimed the title of ASP North America regional champion this year. The regional title is a goal that he had originally set out for himself at the beginning of the season.

“Winning the domestic ratings was a huge goal for me this year, along with qualification,” Gudauskas said. “I knew that with the good start in Florida this would be tangible.”
 
With so many talented surfers hailing from the United States, Gudauskas feels especially proud of his achievement of finishing atop the regional competition.

“To win the North American ratings race is a big deal to me because it asserts you as one of the top prospects coming from the talent rich continent of America,” Gudauskas said. “I think a lot people look to American surfers to see what’s the future of both style of surfing and approach. To be amongst the top of my competitors is an accomplishment in itself, and to win it was icing on the cake. I take a lot of pride in being from America, and to be on top of the American pro ratings, it's a special thing.”