Surfing is coming to the Tokyo Olympics. For these women athletes, it’s the recognition they’ve been waiting for.

Big-wave surfer Andrea Moller, 40, had similar experiences. “When I was in my 20s, I wanted to ride big waves and I couldn’t even get a tow in from the men,” she says. “I couldn’t get a chance to prove myself.”

Looking to get in on the action back then, Moller teamed up with fellow surfer Maria Souza, and together, they bought their own used jet ski as a way to access the big waves. “It began a long phase of proving ourselves and earning respect,” Moller says. “Over and over again, we made calls to competitions to try to gain entry for women.”

It wasn’t the end of the fight for equity, however, and Moller and several other women continued pressing their cause. Jessi Miley-Dyer, a retired surfing pro from Australia who today serves as the vice president of tours and competition for the World Surf League says that in 2012, the organization graduated from charity status to privately held organization. “That changed things,” she says. “It gave women’s surfing a voice at the top.

In 2017, she helped bring equal pay to women’s events. “For me as an ex-pro, it’s a big deal to see us reach pay equity and to see how far the sport has come,” she says. “It’s also important that women now get to surf the same big waves as men and showcase their talents. It switches everything, including the conversation about what they’re wearing to what they’re doing.”The fight for equality is perhaps best reflected in the number of women now participating in the sport.

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