CHARACTER SKETCH

To sum Heather up in a sentence one could say that she is “all that” but without the rock star attitude. Her down to earth nature proves that you don't need to be arrogant or act like a big deal to rise to the top and charge the world's heaviest waves. Despite her nickname “Fergie” she is not the duchess but rather the “Queen of South African surfing”.

The 31 year old hails from the mellow KZN south coast town of Port Shepstone and has made a lot of history in her time. Her easy going friendly nature epitomises the south coast vibe and she takes humility to extremes. Ferg doesn't like a fuss to be made of her and is seemingly oblivious to her heroine status nationwide. Her ease to laugh and happy outgoing personality has attracted a multitude of friends across the globe.

Fearless:

Heather is undoubtedly the most fearless female surfer in the country her legendary charger image could be attributed to the fact that she has grown up only surfing with guys and had to gain respect the hard way. The gutsy competitor is known for her graceful, powerful style and incredible ability in larger surf.

“Just swing and go” is her motto and this is probably what boosted the goofy footer to her most remarkable achievement so far when she won the 2000 Triple Crown Title in monstrous surf. The Triple Crown is regarded by most as the pinnacle most prestigious surfing award second only to winning a world title. It is awarded to the surfer with the highest points tally based on three major ASP events held in Hawaii. Clark is the first and only South African surfer to date to win the Triple Crown.

Ferg has contributed to the growth of women's surfing by encouraging upcoming girls and always being friendly to new faces in the line-up. She recently took Sarah Johnston under her wing for the 20 year old's first season in Hawaii and goes the extra mile to help ‘newbies' out on tour. However competitors must not be fooled by her good nature on land because in the water (especially during heats) she is a tiger and lets her surfing speak for itself.

Heather is not only blessed with a huge amount of raw talent but is dedicated to keeping focussed and fit with her cross training of cycling, mountain biking, swimming and running.

Chatting to Heather one thing in particular stood out about her surfing career: it hasn't been an easy one. Despite dedicating most of her adult life to pursuing the dream of making a living out of surfing she has had to fight harder than most after suffering a serious lack of financial support from sponsors.

These constraints have always been an issue and it was humbling to learn that during her leanest years she was undaunted and took matters into her own hands raising funds staging golf days, selling raffle tickets door to door as well as relying on donations from the south coast community businesses and surfers.

This persistence reflected her hunger to succeed and ultimately is what got her through, unlike others in a similar dilemma she has made it happen for herself financially. A variety of aspiring pro's in the past have thrown in the towel when things aren't handed out on a plate or no one paves the way for them. One can attribute a large amount of her accomplishments to her family's undying support of her of her surfing and their unconditional love for her.

(In 1995) Craig Sims was quoted as saying, “it amazes me that a surfer who has achieved so much has to actually struggle to find the money to continue to succeed when there are hundreds of surfers who will never achieve what Heather has, with fat sponsorships and nowhere to go.” Unfortunately this problem still exists today for our country's highest rated international surfer.

Where it all began?

For Heather it all began at 4 th Avenue Beach in Port Shepstone at a time when lumo tiger striped baggies, pink or slime green zinc sun block and side pony-tails were all the rage! The commercial women's surfing boom following the “Blue Crush” hype was not the case when she took to the water mostly surrounded by males. She had a close knit group of friends she used to hang with and one fateful day she decided to borrow a mate's board and amazingly enough was standing on her second wave.

From the word “go” Heather made a splash in the contest scene by placing third against the boys in her very first local event. Her ego bruising performance was so impressive that Ant Brodowicz was quoted in the paper the following day as saying that “Springbok colours are just around the corner for this talented youngster”. He wasn't far off the mark; it was only three years after catching her very first wave that she made the team.

Many years of successful competing locally ensued when she won SA Champs several times, an unsurpassed seven ASP Africa titles and qualified another five times for the national team to name just a few feats. Following six years of slogging her way around the globe on the WQS she finally broke through the ranks making history as the first female South African to qualify for the WCT since the inception of the two-tier structure.

Clark's mantelpiece boasts an impressive melange of awards ranging from sport's personality of the year to ASP International rookie of the year as well as the Presidential Sports Award for sportsmanship which was awarded by Thabo Mbeki.

She has a tendency to downplay her phenomenal results so I decided it would be easier to chronicle them on a fact file/ timeline.