Sierra Kerr comes from solid surfing stock, and it shows. Most recently, it showed when she did a backflip on her maiden attempt at URBNSURF Sydney.
“First try chlorinated backflip,” she wrote on Instagram.
She’s not yet 21, but she’s already making an indelible mark on surfing, just as her father did before her. Sierra is not just one of those young aerial wonders. Barreling waves, air waves, big waves or small waves, she’s got things dialed. As far as we know, Sierra is the first woman to land a backflip on a surfboard on camera.
“I’ve been trying that trick for like three years,” she said while watching the footage back. “It’s crazy… and I just landed it first try.”
Josh was there, watching from the sidelines as the proud father he is. “We just saw Sierra do the first-ever female flip,” he said with a smile that was bigger than his face. “First attempt. Right before, she was like, ‘well, I’ve got the feeling of the roll. I should try and backflip!’”
Sierra, who recently revealed that she had been diagnosed with Lyme Disease, has been working hard to keep herself in top physical shape. What makes the flip even more special is the fact that she was basically bedridden just a few months ago.
“I got really sick and was hospitalized in Australia with neurological and GI symptoms that made it hard to walk or even lift my legs and with numerous other symptoms,” she said. “From February through April, I was out of the water completely. I couldn’t stand on a surfboard.”
View this post on Instagram