Retirement No Longer Part of Ballard’s Plans

After being eliminated in the first round of a professional surfing event in Durbin, South Africa two weeks ago, Rochelle Ballard was so fed up with her poor performances that she wanted to quit. Despite being the 10th-ranked female surfer in the world, Ballard, 28, considered retirement on the long plane trip home.

“I was very close,” said Ballard, lowering her head and her voice. “Very, very close.”

On Sunday, Ballard turned her career around, winning the Gotcha Pro event at Huntington Beach by defeating Trudy Todd in the final round. Ballard collected $6,000 with the victory and moved from 10th to sixth in the world rankings. It was Ballard’s first victory on the pro surfing world tour this year.

In the two events before Durbin, Ballard finished 13th in each.

“The only thing that was keeping me going was that my sponsors would be really [upset] with me if I did and so would a lot of people who look up to me,” said Ballard, who is from Hawaii. “I would probably devastate a lot of people if I did it, so that kept me from quitting.”

In the two weeks between her disappointment in Durbin and her win at Huntington Beach, Ballard got encouragement from an unlikely source: top-ranked Australian Layne Beachley. Ballard, who said her relationship with the competitive Beachley has its “ups and downs,” got a letter from her telling her that she needed to relax and just enjoy surfing again. The point was reinforced when Ballard took a look at an entry she made in her journal not long ago.

“It said ‘It’s not about winning contests, it’s not about money, it’s not about material things or how you look or those different things,’ ” she said. “I just went ‘Oh my gosh, I forgot what I said.’

“I’ve got so much going on for me and sometimes I take things out of perspective and bring it to an extreme like the whole world is crumbling down on me.”

Ballard came into the Gotcha Pro with a relaxed attitude, and went on a tear. Against Todd, an Australian who improved to fourth in the world despite the loss, Ballard was at her best. With wave conditions so tame that the final was extended from 30 minutes to 45 so the surfers would have a fair chance to get at least three decent chances needed for scoring, Ballard rode her first wave for a good score of 6.25. Todd immediately felt the pressure of falling behind, and it cost her dearly.

Halfway through the heat, Todd held priority, meaning that Ballard had to give Todd first choice on any wave that came along. Instead of taking a medium-sized wave, Todd held out for a big wave that never came. Ballard took advantage of the hesitance and took a small wave for a score of 6.75, which was the best score of the match. Ballard rode another wave for a score over 6 later in the match. Todd’s best score was 4.50.

With about three minutes left in the match Todd, needing a miracle to overtake Ballard, went over to her opponent and friend while still in the water and offered congratulations, which Ballard wasn’t quite ready to accept.

“She’s like jumping off her board and hugging me and I’m like ‘What are you doing? There’s still a minute left,’ ” Ballard said. “I just needed to hear that horn. I was still in fifth gear.”

In other words, Ballard wasn’t quite ready to quit.