By Phil Jarratt
In more than 60 years of modern surfing competition, plenty of friends have become rivals when they meet in the water, but no one at last weekend’s Noosa Logger event could remember a husband and wife ever doing battle in the waves.
A quick search through the records revealed that Mr and Mrs Zye Norris did indeed make surfing history when they clashed in the final of the prestigious Old Mal event, in which traditional surfers ride surfboards that in most cases were made long before they were born. That was certainly the case for Noosa-born Zye and his beautiful Hawaiian bride who is better known in surfing circles as Sierra Lerback.
Sierra and Zye were married in Australia on Christmas Day 2019, just before the pandemic brought their pro surfing careers to a temporary halt, but they had spent the previous few years travelling the world and surfing some of the world’s best waves together. Both are considered to be world class athletes and competitors, with many titles under their belts. But compete against each other! Never. At least not until last Sunday.
In the senior ranks of surfing competition it is quite uncommon, if not rare, for men and women to surf in the same event, but the Old Mal is a specialty event requiring particular skills on heavy old boards, and it is male-dominated. Sierra was only surfing in it because the women’s open was already full when she tried to enter, but by the time she met Zye in the final, she had already dispatched some of the best mal riders in the country.
Seeded straight into the semi-finals because of his past performances at the event, Zye was pretty much untested going into the final, whereas Sierra had improved with every heat. Around the beach, the smart money was on a gender upheaval, with the possibility of divorce proceedings to follow. The couple posed for photos on the beach before the final began, but as soon as they crossed the wet sand to the tide line, they separated, psyching up for battle.
Zye opened up with a modest 3.6. Sierra matched it with a 3.9, then quickly followed with an impressive 4.17. Halfway through the final, Mrs Norris was sitting in second behind the great Harrison Roach and looked likely to cause an upset. But Zye’s casual demeanour belies a ferocious competitive spirit. He reached deep into the well in the dying minutes and found a solid 4.83 to steal second place, while Sierra slipped back to fourth behind Noosa’s Matt Cuddihy.
The hooter signalled the end of a thrilling final. World order had been restored, but the housewife from Hawaii, the laidback Lerback from Lahaina, had given it a tremendous shake. The Norrises were later seen leaving the beach holding hands.
