OUR COACHES – MEET THE TEAM AT PHILIPPA ANDERSON SURF SCHOOL
PHILIPPA ANDERSON
The dream of qualifying for the World Championship Tour (WCT) is still the number one goal in Philippa Anderson’s vision. With 10 years experience on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and some huge results, Philippa wants to share her knowledge with the younger generation. The Anderson family immigrated to Australia and ended up in the beautiful town of Newcastle. Philippa experienced a little taste of the life of a Professional Surfer. Representing Australia at the ISA World Junior Games, 2nd in the World Junior Championships (twice), three break through performances on the WQS and two WCT appearances as a wild card winner/ injury replacement. A few years later Roxy and her parted ways. Despite not having a major sponsor Philippa never gave up on her dream. There were a few hard years of juggling part time work to earn money to keep that WQS dream alive. Semi final and final appearances in 6star WQS events lead to 5 consecutive years finishing in the Top 15 on the WQS rankings and Top 25 in the World rankings. Her determination, love for the sport, hard work in the gym and faith in her ability has driven her to never give up on her dream of making the WCT.
Katie Rae
Katie absolutely loves the water. Growing up, she was heavily involved with Surf Life Saving, excelling in swimming at the state level and participating in many water-based sports including team sports like rowing. Through these experiences, she gained valuable surf and life-saving skills.
As the daughter of one of the “Ninemile Dozen,” Katie developed a passion for surfing at a young age and continues to participate in the annual Ninemile competition. With a penchant for taking on challenges, Katie has tried her hand at numerous sports, but her favorites remain surfing and aerial silks.
In addition to her athletic pursuits, Katie is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian. When she’s not riding the waves or hanging from dizzying heights, you can find her in the community providing dietetic services to some of our most vulnerable members. Katie is proudly neurodivergent and takes great joy in supporting individuals with varying abilities in achieving their life goals, whether it’s in the water or in their day-to-day lives.
Sunny Whitby-Otto
Sunny Whitby-Otto is an 18 year old surfer from Newcastle. Sunny fell in love with surfing at age 10 and has aspired to make it as a professional in the sport ever since, currently competing on the Men’s Qualifying series and Men’s Junior Tour. Sunny loves surfing and passing on knowledge within the sport, so working at the surf school feels right at home and what he enjoys most is seeing the improvement within each student. Sunny has just finished his HSC and with high distinctions looking promising.
ELLIE LAMBKIN
Ellie learnt to surf at 7 years old and fell in love with surfing when she got her first board at 11 years old. After playing almost every sport, she soon found that surfing was her passion. She is patient, always smiling and always having fun. Ellie loves travelling around Australia competing and surfing new places. Ellie has made finals and semi-finals in Ripcurl Gromsearch events across Australia and made it to the Ripcurl National finals in 2019. She also competes in pro junior events and is looking to compete on the World Qualifying Series in the years to come. Ellie’s goals are to keep loving surfing, keep having fun and to finish year 12 at the end of 2021.
Arabella Tarpey
Arabella Tarpey is 20 years old and has been surfing since she was 8 years. Arabella grew up in a rural town on the far south coast of nsw called Pambula. With her first ever surf comp being the regional titles at the age of 10 and with that, she fell in love with competing. Arabella went on to win the regional titles in Kiama the following year. However it was extremely difficult to get to comps, having to drive 12hrs just to get to the state titles. Arabella has been a surf coached for just over 4 years and absolutely loves seeing people experience the joy of surfing for the first time. The last 2 years she’s competed on the WSL QS the and hope to be able to continue to compete this year alongside work and University. Recently just moved to Newcastle for Uni and super excited to have joined the surf school!
Philippa has launched her surf school where she is excited to pass on her knowledge in and out of the water.
Philippa and the rest of the team want to help inspire the younger generation, get more females out in the water giving it a go
and helping surfers achieve their own personal goals which ever it may be.
The team at Philippa Anderson Surf School are ready of you.