Hosted by surf media icons, Ronnie and Vaughan Blakey, the thirty-sixth Australian Surfing Awards Incorporating The Hall of Fame went to air on Sunday, May 24th on Channel 9 in an exciting digital format as a special episode of ‘The Hold Down’.

Under current conditions, this allowed us to still celebrate the amazing achievements of our nominees & winners in an exciting new format the public could enjoy from the comfort of their own living rooms.

Ronnie and Vaughan honoured the best of the best over the past twelve months across thirteen award categories, adding to the excitement of our biggest gong, the announcement of Jodie Cooper as our latest Hall of Fame inductee.

Jodie has been called the best woman surfer not to win a world title, but this seems like faint praise for a person of her epic calibre. The super-powerful natural-foot was a stylish, dangerous presence throughout the '80s and the first part of the ‘90s on the then-ASP World Tour, dominating Hawaiian events with deep carving turns and great big-surf instincts.

Jodie particularly shone in Hawaiian surf, where her go-for-broke energy and flair made her almost unbeatable for long periods. She rekindled the North Shore as the performance pinnacle for women pros with a breakthrough win at Haleiwa in 1985,  followed by repeated wins at Sunset Beach, and finally a two-year domination of Hawaiian events in 1992 and ’93.

In recent years, Cooper has been part of the coaching staff for the Australian Junior Team contesting the ISA World Junior Championships and has been active as a commentator on various surfing events. 

Steph Gilmore (who was a special guest on the show) and Jack Robinson took out the Female and Male Surfer of The Year Awards. 

Image credit Peter ‘Joli Wilson

CLICK HERE to watch the 2020 Australian Surfing Awards Incorporating The Hall of Fame including winners pre-recorded speeches. 

Again in 2020, entries in the Nikon Surf Video of the Year were of the highest standard with judges working overtime to adjudicate on a top-three finalists list.

WINNERS – 2020 Australian Surfing Awards Incorporating The Hall of Fame:

MALE SURFER OF THE YEAR
Jack Robinson

FEMALE SURFER OF THE YEAR
Stephanie Gilmore

FEMALE RISING STAR
Molly Picklum

MALE RISING STAR
Dakoda Walters

HEAVY WATER AWARD
Russell Bierke
 
ASB GREATER GOOD AWARD
Peter Owens, Fight For The Bight Alliance
 
PETER TROY LIFESTYLE AWARD
Rob Bain
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Glenn Hall

INNOVATION AWARD
Chris Friend, LiveHeats

SURF CULTURE AWARD
Jed Smith and Vaughan Blakey, “Ain’t That Swell” podcast series

SIMON ANDERSON CLUB AWARD
North Shore Boardriders Club

NIKON SURF VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Andrew Kaineder, Flow State

 NIKON SURF PHOTO OF THE YEAR

Ren McGann’s ‘The Right’

The winner of the Nikon Surf Video of the Year Award will receive a Nikon Z 6 kit while the winner of the Nikon Surf Photo of the Year Award will take home a Nikon Z 7. Each will come with a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S and FTZ adapter.

World-renowned Surf Journalist Nick Carroll continues in the role of Curator of the Australian Surfing Awards incorporating the Hall of Fame.

The Australian Surfing Awards incorporating the Hall of Fame is proudly presented by Surfrider Foundation and supported by Tourism and Events Queensland, Nikon, nudie, Hyundai, Australasian Surf Business Magazine, 2XP,  Griffith University and OnStone