English Surfing Federation to introduce equal prize money in professional competitions

Male and female surfers will get equal prize money in the UK from 2016.

The English Surfing Federation (ESF) has decided that payouts will be the same for both genders from 2016.

At the moment professional male winners in England get £1,000 for finishing first while their female counterparts get half that amount.

But there are still big differences in other competitions around the world with some events seeing a $40,000 (£26,800) gap.

The male winners of the World Surf League (WSL) get $525,000 (£353,000) per event while women get $262,500 (£176,000).

The World Championship Tour has introduced equal prize money in two of its competitions this year.

Lucy Campbell (right) next to Keshia Eyre at a surfing event in Saltburn-by-the-Sea near Middlesbrough

Andy Sturt, chairman of the Newquay-based ESF, said in a statement: "The English Surfing Federation is committed to give equal status to men and women in prize money - this parity is long overdue.

"There are a few sports who are leading the way in gender equality such as tennis.

"Equal prize money is paid in the grand slams, but still the smaller tournaments are yet to close the gap.

"Other mainstream and British favourites such as football, cricket and rugby pay remarkably different figures to the men and the women at the top of their game.

Brazil's Adriano De Souza wins the World Surfing League world title in Hawaii last week

"This could be a possible stepping stone to gender equality in a future event where both genders compete."

Many professional female surfers are forced to subsidise their lower incomes.

The UK's top female surfer, Lucy Campbell from north Devon, works in a bar in Woolacombe to earn extra money so she can carry on surfing.

The next English National Surfing Championships will be held at Watergate Bay, Cornwall, in April and May.

Other sports with gender equal prize money

Figures from 2014

Read a full list of which sports have equal prize money and which don't.

Tennis

The US Open was the first major competition in the world to introduce gender equality in prize money back in 1973.

The Australian Open followed nearly 30 years later in 2001 with Wimbledon and the French Open falling in line in 2007.

City marathons

The New York and Boston marathons were among the first races to introduce equal prize money in 1984 and 1986 respectively.

The top prizes at the London Marathon are equal for men and women although the minor places get less.

Athletics

The IAAF introduced equal prize money for its world championships in 1995.

Other sports with equal prize money include archery, bowls, badminton, climbing, figure skating, mountain biking, sailing, shooting, speed skating, triathlon, volleyball and windsurfing.

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