Claire Bevilacqua (born 29 January 1983) (nickname "Bevo") is a professional surfer from

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. She joined the World Championship Tour in 2004. She has won many competitions including the 2009 Pipeline Pro Hawaii.

Early life

Bevilacqua was born and raised "Down Under" to an Australian mother and Italian father. Growing up in West Australia, she got her start riding some of the best and most testing waves in the world. She started skateboarding as soon as she could walk. She picked up surfing at the age of fourteen and quickly picked up the necessary skills and techniques.

Career

Bevilacqua quickly shot up the Junior Australian rankings and received tremendous support from sponsors. In 2003, after only four years of competing, she won the title of State Champion as well as the Australian Pro Junior Women's Champion. The following year, she moved onto the World Championship Tour (WCT) of the

Association of Surfing Professionals The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The WSL was originally known as International Professional Surfing (IPS), fo ...

. In 2005, she ranked tenth in the World Championship Tour and in 2006 she was ranked sixth. Since turning pro she has won several competitions including The Outer Banks Pro in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, The Hello Kitty Boardfest at

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

and the 2009 Pipepline Pro. Bevilacqua was also voted onto the Nixon Surf Team. After four years of competing as one of the top female surfers in the world, she decided to take a year off from the competition circuit to focus on writing, shooting, and filming for sponsors as well as urfline.com In 2006, Bevilacqua collaborated with olcomto create the "Bevo Signature Series" line of girl shorts. She returned to competitive surfing in 2009. She quickly shot to third on the World Qualifying Series with her win at Women’s Pipeline Pro Hawaii.http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing-news/40084

''ESPN Body Issue''

Bevilacqua appeared in the 2009 ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured K ...

s ''Body Issue''.

References

External links

Surf Life for Women ProfileSurf Skate Snow MagazineInterview from Lat34.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bevilacqua, Clara 1983 births World Surf League surfers Australian female surfers Australian people of Italian descent Living people Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia People educated at John XXIII College, Perth Sportspeople of Italian descent