After a hard-fought struggle, a 57-year old surfer has been granted the right to surf with the men.
Marguerite Vujcich, affectionately labelled the 'surfing lawyer' has made it her mission to bring gender equality to the male-dominated sport and in mid-January saw her efforts implemented at the National Surfing Championships at Piha.
Ms Vujcich, who had accused Surfing New Zealand of running a "sexist" national championship said she was "over the moon" the organisation had added more female categories.
Having attended the national championships for seven years, she believed Surfing New Zealand had not met its obligation under the Human Rights Act, after being refused for requesting to surf in her age group.
Previously the championships included multiple 5-year age group categories for male surfers aged 30 to 60-plus, but only one "senior women's" category to cover all females in that age range.