Johanne Defay

Johanne Defay (born 19 November 1993) is a French professional surfer. She was born in Le Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne region of France. She qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games where she won bronze.

She began surfing at the age of 8 off the beaches of Reunion Island, which is her home today. After Johanne's first competition when she was only ten years old, she quickly moved through the European amateur ranks to eventually take on the WSL World Qualifying Series. In 2008 Defay almost gave up competing. She was finding it difficult to transition from the juniors to the WQS and then the economy crashed causing many surf companies cancel their sponsorships. At that time, Johanne found herself without sponsors and also without decent results. However, with her parents’ encouragement, Johanne was able to qualify for the World Championship Tour within two years.

She has won five World Surf League events, the Vans US Open of Surfing 2015, the Fiji Women's Pro 2016, Uluwatu CT 2018, the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro 2021 and the Quiksilver/ROXY Pro G-Land 2022.

Competitive highlights 2024 Bronze Medal Olympics - Paris (Tahiti) 2016 WSL 2016 Rank: 5 2016 1st Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji 2016 3rd Roxy Pro Gold Coast – Australia 2015 8th World Championship Tour 2015 3rd Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji 2015 5th Rip Curl Pro Bell's Beach – Australia 2015 1st Vans US Open of Surfing – California 2015 5th Cascais Women's Pro – Portugal 2015 5th Roxy Pro – France 2014 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – 8th on Final Ranking 2014 3rd Swatch Women's Pro – California 2014 3rd Roxy Pro – France 2014 5th Fiji Women's Pro – Fiji 2014 5th Vans US Open of Surfing – California 2014 5th Cascais Women's Pro – Portugal 2014 5th Target Maui Pro – Hawaii 2013 3rd Junior World Championship Florianopolis – Brazil 2013 1st France Champion Brétignolles sur Mer – France 2013 1st Pontevedra Junior Pro Surf – Spain 2013 Open European Champion 2013 Junior European Champion 2013 Finalist of the 6 stars WQS Swatch Girls Pro – France 2013 1st Swatch Girls Junior Pro – France 2013 1st Soöruz Junior Pro – France 2013 1st Gijòn Junior Pro – Spain 2013 2nd O’Neil Junior Pro – Spain 2013 1st Soöruz Junior Pro – France 2013 4th Coupe de France – France

Career victories WCT WinsYearEventVenueCountry 2024 MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Supertubos, Peniche 2022 Quiksilver/ROXY Pro G-Land G-Land, Banyuwangi 2021 Jeep Surf Ranch Pro Lemoore, California 2018 Uluwatu CT - Women's Uluwatu, Bali 2016 Fiji Women's Pro Namotu, Tavarua 2015 Women's Vans US Open of Surfing Huntington Beach, California

WSL World Championship Tour