For as long as the sun rises over Bondi Beach, there will be a reminder of the freckle-faced young woman who went from being one of the few females scrapping for waves on her home break to world surfing champion in 1993.

A bronze statue of Pauline Menczer, whose professional career had been largely forgotten until the 2021 documentary Girls Can’t Surf revealed the many obstacles she had to overcome to win her world title, was unveiled on Friday afternoon.

It shows her in a typical pose from her early life – scanning the waves from the southern end of the beach, surfboard at her side, holding the skateboard she would ride down the hill from her family home.

“It just feels amazing,” Menczer, 55, said of the honour before a rain-affected ceremony at Bondi.

Girls Can’t Surf director Chr

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