Sally Fitzgibbons, one of the ISA’s new VPs. Photo: WSL
Australian Olympian and 15-year WSL Championship Tour veteran Sally Fitzgibbons was successful in her bid for vice president of the International Surfing Association (ISA). Fitzgibbons was elected to one of the two open VP slots after the national federations voted on December 12 at the ISA’s annual general meeting.
Fitzgibbons is the most successful surfer in ISA history; she’s won gold at the ISA World Surfing Games four times (2008, 2018, 2021, 2024) and once at the ISA Junior Champs (2007). Now she’ll begin her career in politics and play a role in guiding surfing towards its third Olympic appearance at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and potentially a fourth at the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
Reports say that the opening round of voting awarded the first VP slot to the incumbent Karin Sierralta of Peru, beating Fitzgibbons, South Africa’s Johnny Baker, and Senegal’s Oumar Seye with 22 votes out of 41. After three rounds of voting, Fitzgibbons filled the other VP vacancy, but the ISA did not divulge the final vote tally.
Fitzgibbons’ and Sierralta’s terms will run through 2028. They’ll join New Zealand’s Barbara Kendall and France’s Jean-Luc Arassus, the other two VPs on the executive committee.
In addition to the VP selection, the meeting also saw Kimifumi Imoto of Japan – formerly the Tokyo 2020 Sports Manager for surfing and the incumbent ISA regular member – re-elected to the regular member position, and British Virgin Islands was approved as the federation’s 117th member nation.
Fitzgibbons didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on her specific goals and initiatives as a member of the ISA executive committee. When we know more, you’ll know more.
