Paige Hareb
The fight for the number one spot in this list was fierce – the top three all stepped it up at some point during the year. Taranaki’s Paige Hareb is unquestionably New Zealand’s most successful surfer ever, but her feat at the Nias Pro was next level. She is the consummate professional – a surf athlete carving out an incredible path in the sport.
She also finally ticked off a goal she’d had for years: to win a New Zealand Open Women’s title. Her first came in January at Westport.
“Paige, to me, is the athlete we need to model if we want to get more New Zealand surfers to the elite stage.”
Paige, now 32, is New Zealand’s first female surfer to make the tour – she joined it in 2009. She remained on tour right through to 2014 – six years straight until she was relegated to the QS in 2015. That didn’t dampen her spirits – she just resolved to work smarter. Paige rejoined the tour in 2018. The year was a tough one for her, suffering a nasty injury during a free-surf in Mexico that took her out of contention. She turned that negative into a positive and re-emerged with an intensity and focus that was crystal sharp, an Olympic spot in the offing. Her back half of the 2018 season was masterful. She re-qualified for the CT and finished second at the ISA World Surfing Games that year.
Then, earlier in 2022 and seemingly out of nowhere, on perfect Nias walls, Paige finds a level of performance most surfers will only ever dream of. With a series of perfectly placed under the lip hooks she writes herself into history, the Nias Pro trophy etched with her name. And once again she has her hand up as our Olympic hope.
Paige qualified for the Challenger Series with a fourth placing in the 2021/2022 season. She struggled to break into the finals despite showing form at times. She finished 33rd and beyond contention for qualification.
In between CS events she committed to re-qualification through the QS events and currently she is ranked first on the 2022/2023 Australia/Oceania QS rankings with just four events of her possible five, and ahead of the Australian leg. That means she almost certainly has another CS start for the coming season and makes her New Zealand’s highest ranked surfer again.
“Paige, to me, is the athlete we need to model if we want to get more New Zealand surfers to the elite stage,” offers Matt Scorringe, of The Art Of Surfing. “Her mental strength and share tenacity is what is missing in the New Zealand surf culture as a whole and she has shown such fight to stay at the top level for longer than any other New Zealand surfer. I look forward to the day she has time to help the next generation with some insight on her mental game, which has kept her at the top for so long.”
Paige, take a bow, you’re ranked number one in New Zealand.
