SAWTELL surfer Rosie Smart has been crowned the winner of the Hyundai She’s Electric season two.

The Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club member defeated Dee Why’s Anne Dos Santos in a thrilling surf-off at Cabarita Beach.

Smart took home $5000 for the victory and the season two title, as well as a VIP experience at next week’s Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final with former World Tour surfer Laura Enever.

“I felt like a bit of an underdog starting in fifth place,” nineteen-year-old Smart said after her victory.

“The waves were challenging today, but I was determined to emulate Steph Gilmore and go all the way,” she said.

“I knew that if I wanted to win, I needed to do one big turn, so I’m just glad I made that turn.

“It was in the last 30 seconds, and it was one good left turn.

“I’m going to use the $5000 to fund the rest of my QS (Qualifying Series) campaign and hopefully go onto the Challenger Series.”

Smart said tough conditions persisted throughout the competition at Cabarita Beach.

“It was pretty closey,” she said.

“It was hard to find a two-turner out there, and there were lots of one-turners.

“It was hard just getting out there, and by the final I was pretty exhausted.”

Smart took good form into the event, having placed third at the Gold Coast Open just days earlier.

The champion surfer is looking forward to competing as part of the Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club team at next week’s Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final at Burleigh Heads.

“I’m really lucky to be a part of Coffs Harbour Boardriders.

“There’s lots of really good surfers there like Jake Sharpe and Lee Winkler, so I love surfing with them.

“It’s really cool that I can surf with them in team challenges,” she said.

“I also really love watching the younger girls coming through like Caity Simmers and Molly Picklum, especially their performance at Pipe was amazing.

“It’s cool to see how women’s surfing is just getting better and better.”

Hyundai She’s Electric is an online surfing competition open to all female athletes aged fourteen and over throughout Australia.

The program is designed to discover female surfers from across the country, providing them with national exposure and the opportunity to access some of Australia’s best coaches at Surfing Australia’s national surf training facility, the Hyundai High Performance Centre in Casuarina, NSW.

The competition spanned twelve weeks from October to December 2023.

Following the online submission of their best waves, Surfing Australia’s expert team of female judges, led by Head Judge of Olympic Surfing for Tokyo, Glen Elliott, reviewed the clips and created a leaderboard to rank the athletes.

Those with the top five highest-scoring waves at the end of the competition become Hyundai Team Electric.

The top five athletes attended a surf camp at the Hyundai Surfing Australia High Performance Centre which included three-days of intensive training, surf analysis conducted by some of Australia’s leading surf coaches, surf-specific strength and conditioning sessions, and workshops led by surfing icons and pioneers of women’s surfing.

Additionally, the athletes placing second through fifth received $1000, while the winner awarded $5000 and a VIP experience at the Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final with former World Tour surfer Laura Enever.

By Aiden BURGESS