Johanne Defay

Johanne Defay (born 19 November 1993) is a French professional surfer. She was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, France.

She began surfing at the age of 8 off the beaches of Reunion Island, which is her home today. After Johanne's first competition when she was only ten years old, she quickly moved through the European amateur ranks to eventually take on the WSL World Qualifying Series. In 2008 Defay almost gave up competing. She was finding it difficult to transition from the juniors to the WQS and then the economy crashed causing many surf companies cancel their sponsorships. At that time, Johanne found herself without sponsors and also without decent results. However, with her parents’ encouragement, Johanne was able to qualify for the World Championship Tour within two years.

She has won five World Surf League events, the Vans US Open of Surfing 2015, the Fiji Women's Pro 2016, Uluwatu CT 2018, the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro 2021 and the Quiksilver/ROXY Pro G-Land 2022.

Competitive highlights

2016 WSL 2016 Rank: 5

2016 1st Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji

2016 3rd Roxy Pro Gold Coast – Australia

2015 8th World Championship Tour

2015 3rd Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji

2015 5th Rip Curl Pro Bell's Beach – Australia

2015 1st Vans US Open of Surfing – California

2015 5th Cascais Women's Pro – Portugal

2015 5th Roxy Pro – France

2014 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – 8th on Final Ranking

2014 3rd Swatch Women's Pro – California

2014 3rd Roxy Pro – France

2014 5th Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji

2014 5th Vans US Open of Surfing – California

2014 5th Cascais Women's Pro – Portugal

2014 5th Target Maui Pro – Hawaii

2013 3rd Junior World Championship Florianopolis – Brazil

2013 1st France Champion Brétignolles sur Mer – France

2013 1st Pontevedra Junior Pro Surf – Spain

2013 Open European Champion

2013 Junior European Champion

2013 Finalist of the 6 stars WQS Swatch Girls Pro – France

2013 1st Swatch Girls Junior Pro – France

2013 1st Soöruz Junior Pro – France

2013 1st Gijòn Junior Pro – Spain

2013 2nd O’Neil Junior Pro – Spain

2013 1st Soöruz Junior Pro – France

2013 4th Coupe de France – France

Career Victories

WSL World Championship Tour

References

External links

1993 births

Emlyon Business School alumni

Living people

French surfers

People from Le Puy-en-Velay

World Surf League surfers

Sportspeople from Haute-Loire

Olympic surfers for France

Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Sportswomen from Réunion

French female surfers