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7X ASP World Champ Layne Beachley announces retirement

Layne Beachley Career Highlights

Turned professional at age 16

Seven times ASP World Champion: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006

29 World Championship Tour victories

Ridden the largest wave ever by a woman (50 feet)

Australian Female Athlete of the year 2003

Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the year 2004

Inducted into Surfing Hall of Fame in 2006

October 15, 2008 - Layne Beachley, the most successful female surfer of all time, has confirmed she will retire at the end of the 2008 season.

The 7X world champion called an end to her stellar career at a media conference in Sydney, in the midst of a tour event in her name, the Beachley Classic. The announcement comes while Beachley is in the hunt for her eighth title and currently ranked third in the world.

The 36-year-old from Sydney’s northern beaches holds the record for most number of Tour victories with 29, but after 19 years on the road said she was ready to move on to the next phase of her life.

Though she’s retiring from full-time competitive surfing, Beachley will still compete on occasion when given wild card entries to events. She said in a statement: “I love women’s surfing. I’m really passionate about it. Just because I’m walking away from the Tour doesn’t mean I’m walking away from women’s surfing.”

If you want to see what a 7X World Champ looks like in action, check out this vid: