What surfing does to my hair, people buy in a bottle,” says the 26-year-old Kassia Meador, a world-class longboard rider from Oceanside, California, at the Women’s World Longboarding Championships in Biarritz. “Surfing’s like a beauty salon: rosy cheeks, surf-spray hair, fit body.”

Her skin is smooth and a warm, natural brown, and her dark hair is cut into a sexy, tomboyish shag. She has a fit, womanly body and American pearly gnashers. It’s hard to take your eyes off her wholesome gorgeousness.

Female surfing has finally come into its own. It now has distinct style, and is just as intertwined with art and fashion as it is with beach life and athleticism. Meador herself has just finished producing and starring in her first film, Fashion, about surfing, women, life and clothes. Unlike the men’s sport, the absence of big sponsorship has kept female surfing relatively sweet and carefree, and it is even burgeoning on the rain-lashed beaches of the UK. One estimate suggests that in the past five years, the number of female surfers here has increased from 10,000 to 100,000.

Another bonus of the swelling surf scene is the emergence of credible women’s surfwear. Roxy, once a marginal line produced alongside the much bigger male brand, Quiksilver, is flourishing. Over at O’Neill, the Luella range of high-fashion surfwear has been a huge hit. In fact, women’s apparel is the fastest- growing area in the surf industry, according to the Surf Industry Manufacturers’ Association. And while its customers may not all be riding the waves, they are certainly buying into a wholesome, fun lifestyle.

Also in Biarritz is Maritxu Darrigrand, a French shortboard champion in the late 1970s. At 57, she still surfs every day from spring to December, and is the passionate marketing director of Roxy. “The female scene is more fun than the men’s, and the girls are very cool. They are into art, painting and photography — if you look at the websites, they are much more into sharing and communicating. The guys are more technical. I know the fashion world looks at our riders. They travel around the globe gathering influences, using vintage clothes, surf labels and picking things up here and there. They are daring, both in and out of the water.”

“Right now, it’s all about punky style,” says Candice O’Donnell, Britain’s No 1 female longboarder. “Tight jeans cut off, hacked-off necks and sleeves. Surfers love customising.”

Too often, aspirational beach life is modelled on the antics of the Côte d’Azur princess. But that is changing. “It would be cool to think I was some kind of role model, because I have a natural, basic, simple lifestyle,” says Meador.

Meador is respected as one of the best longboarders, male or female, in the history of the sport. She can near enough dance at the end of her board as she rides a wave. In the competition tomorrow, Meador and Jenn Smith, who are old friends, will compete against each other. In preparation, they’re making time to go down to the beach and catch a few bands. It is hard to imagine many other world-class athletes indulging in this kind of pre-competition downtime.

Along with their laid-back approach, one of the most refreshing things about spending time with these cheerful, stylish, healthy girls is their diversity of body shapes. O'Donnell has the slender curves of a model. Meador is a perfect pear. Smith has a boyish figure. I mention this not in an obsessive, body-watching way, but more out of pure joy at seeing so many different bodies, all of them looking excellent and, more important, loved.

Surf's Up

Polka-dot bikini £35, by Animal.

Pink shortie wetsuit £115, from Roxy.

Black sunglasses £50, by Roxy.

Corduroy skirt £50, by Luella for O’Neill.

Shopping by Katherine Ormerod

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