Several years into retirement, Kim went back and won the OP pro, beating some of her main rivals. After that, she finally “got bored with it all” and decided to follow her other dream, which was to raise a family with her husband Brian. She now has two children, Justin who is 14, and Caitlin who is now 11.

As a stay at home mom, she says, “raising my kids well is my biggest focus.” When I asked her what she felt were some of her biggest victories in life, the first thing she said was having her two kids and keeping a healthy relationship with her husband, who she has been with since she was 18 years. Her and Brian have always been close. While she was traveling the world professionally, Brian would meet up with her in whatever country she was in, and they would travel and surf together.

Although Kim no longer surfs professionally, she is still out in the water as much as possible. Heads still turn when she's going down the line. She surfs just as well as she ever did, and she continues to remain a positive force in the water and an inspiration to aspiring women surfers everywhere.

Lori Rafferty
SB’s original pro wind-surfer and record-setter

Known as the “Speed Queen,” Lori Rafferty is all about timing. Her mantra is to take advantage of opportunities and to be in the right place at the right time. She first learned how to windsurf when she was offered free lessons while working as a lifeguard. The idea of windsurfing was new and still developing, but she “rode the progression of the sport” and went on to be a major player in the professional circuit and eventually set the record in speed sailing at a screaming 38 mph on her wind-surf board (the previous record was 32 mph). Imagine driving your car at 38 mph and looking down at the concrete zooming past you, and that’s what the water looks like while you’re windsurfing. The impact is just as deadly.

As the sport of windsurfing grew, so did the coverage, and Lori happened to have a natural talent for photography. Not only did she compete and win at competitions, but she would also catch great images of the sport. Her windsurfing photos have been published in magazines all over the world and she essentially became an ambassador for the sport. Born in Ventura county, Lori now lives in Santa Barbara with her husband Kail Wathne and two sons, Reese and Curtis. She is an avid surfer, freelance writer and photographer, adventure enthusiast, and still the original Santa Barbara wind-surfer.

Amy Bigelow
Reigning Champion of 9 Trails Race

Rejoice new hobbies! Amy Bigelow didn’t start running until she was 28 years old, starting with a slow and painful 3-mile loop around her neighborhood. Fast-forward ten years, and she is now two-time women’s champion of the 35-mile Nine Trails Race and in the best shape ever. The occasional run around the block became a passion for Amy Bigelow and eventually led her to the beautiful trails around Santa Barbara where trail running has recently become more popular. The Nine Trails race goes through Los Padres National Forest with an elevation gain of over 10,500 feet. It’s a hilly course with rocky terrain, creek crossings, climbs, and fast drops. The race took Amy seven hours and 34 minutes to complete, with her legs literally “smashed” at the end, and palms all cut up from taking a couple of spills along the way.

Constantly exceeding her own expectations, Amy has surprised herself with what she is capable of. “I don’t even know what my limitations are,” she said with a beaming smile. “Too many women make the mistake of thinking that they have physical limitations…we’re capable of doing so much more than what we give ourselves credit for.”

She encourages women, no matter what shape they’re in, to get out there and try something. “The SB running community is so incredible, I’ve made some great friends.” Organizations such as SB Running, SB Athletic Associations, and Moms in Motion offer great opportunities for anybody to get involved in the sport. Her goal now is to do even better in the race next year and try to finish under seven hours, a record breaker for women’s times. Amy also runs her own recruiting business, is the health and wellness sales representative for the eco-friendly Green Toe shoes, and is a single-mother of two young sons, Reese and Mason.

Sharon Green
World-class sail photographer

“The wetter and more miserable we are, the better the picture,” claims Sharon Green, one of the world’s leaders in sail photography. Hanging from helicopters or chase boats in turbulent conditions, Sharon Green captures the essence of sailboats and yachts at their most extreme. She is one of only two women who are regular photographers at the highest levels of competitive yacht racing. It’s a physically demanding job with plenty of death-defying and adrenaline-pumping action, because sailboats don’t come alive without the terrifying winds and sharp speed.

Sharon’s strength as a sail photographer comes from growing up in a sailing family. Her understanding of the sport allows her to “tell you at each second what’s going to happen,” and results in spectacular photos of great splashes. She manages her own company, called “Ultimate Sailing,” and edits, publishes, and distributes a calendar every year of action-packed boats from all over the world. Her calendar has become celebrated in the sailing world and is coming upon its 25th anniversary. Green also works for private individuals, teams, and sponsors of tournaments. Her jobs include making photo documentaries, creating slide shows in sync with music, and even public speaking at events such as yacht fundraisers. For more information on Sharon and her company, visit www.ultimatesailing.com.

Sue Peterson
Professional Swimmer

Sue Peterson was swimming competitively at age five and by the time she was in fifth grade, she was traveling away from home for the summer to train. Sue was shy, but feeling the “success” of swimming and competition and the sheer joy of being in the water gave her a special kind of focus, exceptional for someone so young. By age sixteen, she was training with her team to qualify for the Olympics. She would see other swimmers and remembers thinking, “If they can do it, why can’t I? I just knew it was possible.” Sue missed the 1976 Games by 2/100ths of a second.

Sue attended USC and continued training and experiencing what she calls, “a high, mental and physical and spiritual—you transcend pain, you are on another plain.” She recalls being so elated and elevated that her body felt as if it couldn’t even hold in pain. Unfortunately, in 1980 the United States boycotted the Olympics (which were held in Russia). Whatever frustration or disappointment Sue felt, did not slow her down—literally. That year she held the world record for speed, and was in the Guinness Book as fastest female swimmer.

Sue stopped swimming competitively but was able to travel around the world “performing swimming and teaching Water Polo clinics with a dear friend from college.” Sue loved everything about the sport, “the stretching, the relaxation.” She wanted to share this gift with as many kids as possible, and after having her own kids she wrote a book called Swim with Me. She later co-wrote another book called Becoming a Better You, in which she inspires kids to live in a more balanced and aware state, by way of her own stories.

Sue adores living in Santa Barbara and takes time everyday to “breathe, run, bike or surf.” And every once in a while she can be talked into entering a triathlon or race by her husband or one of her kids. “Swimming is addictive,” she says. “It makes you happy.”

Shawn Alladio
K38 Water Rescue Owner and Instructor

Shawn Alladio started the business K38, which has become the standard for big wave surfing rescue operations. K38 trains the Navy, police, lifeguard and firefighting units as well as big wave tow-in surfers in fast water rescue procedures. Shawn is the only female instructor in the entire Navy SEALS program.

In 1979 Shawn found her passion when she bought her first stand-up Jet Ski. In 1989, she started racing Jet Skis professionally. While racing, she saw a lot of things being done unsafely and thus began the K38 Rescue Squad. Shawn teaches anybody who wants to learn, and she teaches people to follow their instincts.

Not only is Shawn a teacher, but she is also the person to whom even the proudest of men turn to for advice and assistance. She has worked with men like Jeff Clark, Ross Clark Jones and other big wave surfers. She has done Jet Ski tow-ins and rescues at places like Mavericks, Todos Santos, Teahupo’o and Jaws. Jones once said, “With Shawn around, it’s not even dangerous to surf anymore!”

You may think that a woman like this has no fear, but when asked what the most frightening experience she has ever had while doing rescues is, she simply said, “honestly, every one of them.” Surprisingly enough, she continued by saying, “it’s the human element that is terrifying, not the natural element.” You would think that working in conditions like the documented “100 foot Wednesday,” during which the waves were up to 120 feet, that the natural element would be the most dominant fuel for terror. That particular day, she says, shifted her psyche on a personal level. She “felt completely insignificant as a being.”

She was also a participant in the rescue efforts during the New Orleans disaster, which she described as “crushing to the soul.” She would pass by houses, and all she could think was “these people are never going to step through that door again.”

Perhaps one of the things that helps get Shawn through all the tragedy she sees is her mentality that “you have to always find the good in the bad,” even though sometimes that is a really tough thing to do.

Shawn Alladio is by far one of the most selfless and humble women I have been fortunate enough to meet in my life. She is the kind of person that instantly makes you feel at home as if you were family. She lives her life for other people, whether they be complete strangers or her own two children whom she loves deeply, she always puts others first. Yet even with all that she has already accomplished in life, her goal is still “to be a better woman today than I was yesterday.”