Billabong Girls Pro Brazil champion to be crowned today

ITACARÉ, Brazil (Saturday, August 26, 2006) –The inaugural Billabong
Girls Pro Brazil champion will be crowned today. Whether that champion
will be lone Brazilian Silvana Lima, or one of three Australian surfers
still in contention in Jessi Miley-Dyer, Chelsea Georgeson or Layne
Beachley, remains to be seen.

BILLABONG GIRLS PRO BRAZIL CHAMPION TO BE CROWNED TODAY

ITACARÉ, Brazil (Saturday, August 26, 2006) –The inaugural Billabong Girls Pro Brazil champion will be crowned today. Whether that champion will be lone Brazilian Silvana Lima, or one of three Australian surfers still in contention in Jessi Miley-Dyer, Chelsea Georgeson or Layne Beachley, remains to be seen.

Each semifinal heat pits an ASP Women’s World Tour rookie against an esteemed ASP Women’s World Champion. The first semi will feature current ASP World Junior Champ and World Qualifying Series (WQS) leader Miley-Dyer versus reigning world champ Georgeson. The second will be a surf-off between young Brazilian hotshot Lima, (better known for earning a perfect 10 on her first wave ridden in ASP Women’s World Tour competition) and six-time world champion Beachley.

While Lima has homecourt advantage, all three Australians hail from Sydney and regularly surf in conditions similar to those seen at Praia da Tiririca, Itacaré. With slightly bigger three to five foot (one to one-half metre) waves rolling in, the stage for an all-time finish to stop number four on the ASP Women’s World Tour has been set.

With ratings leader Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) exiting the event early, world numbers two and three Beachley and Georgeson are looking to close gaps.  Beachley will take the ratings lead with a win today.  Georgeson is defending champion in France where the tour heads next week.

Competition will begin at 2pm local time. The two thirty-minute semifinal heats will be followed by a 15-minute break. The Billabong Girls Pro final will hit the water at 3:15pm.