SURF
Champion longboarder and tandem surfer Mary Osborne is a classic triple threat. Most widely known for winning the longboard division of MTV's Surf Girls, the pro surfer and surf model is also making her mark as a host and personality.
Raised by Solimar Beach in Ventura, Calif., Mary picked up her first board at the age of 14. "I got into it basically because I wanted to be better than the boys," she says, referring to her three older brothers who all surf. "I was supposed to be the ballerina." Around the time that Mary started surfing, local surf shop owner and former pro surfer David Puau was pursuing a new career as a photographer. They started working together to create beautiful modeling and surf images, while Mary began promoting herself as a competitor by attending tradeshows, contacting companies and participating in several competitions. She quickly started garnering attention, and became the first woman to grace cover of The Surfer's Path, a popular European surf magazine, after Puau shot and submitted a photo.
Mary's big break came when MTV selected her out of 4,000 other young women to compete on its reality series, Surf Girls, where she more than proved her skills by winning the longboard division. In 2003, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award as Best Female Athlete, and was named the first Action Girl of the Year by Action Girl, Inc. Mary has been featured in magazines such as Longboard, Surfing, Surfer, Surf News, Surfers Path, Wahine, Surfer, Surf Life for Women, Surfing Girl, Nalu, FHM, Entertainment Weekly and Spin Magazine, as well as in such surf films as Longboard Magic. She has also appeared as a host on Fox Sports Nets 54321.
Mary coauthored Sister Surfer: A Woman's Guide to Surfing with Bliss and Courage with Kia Afcari, which was published by The Lyons Press in June 2005. The inspirational how-to book guides women through the process of learning how to surf, covering everything from how to conquer fear to how to wax a surfboard. Mary, who lives in Ventura, Calif., earned an associate's degree in liberal arts from Santa Barbara City College. She plans to continue pushing her surfing to new levels while simultaneously pursuing a career in entertainment.
