"The Surfing Profile: Margo," written by Drew Kampion, was published in the June 1979 issue of Surfing magazine. The quotes below were taken from that profile. Oberg was 25.


I've always done everything I've wanted to do, whatever I felt was best. And surfing was something I wanted to do. The first wave I ever rode, I took off and rode all the way to the sand, then paddled back out and rode another 50 waves that day, all the way to the sand. It was total enthusiasm! In six months I passed people who had been at it for three or four years.


I started surfing because I really like to be alone, and most of my time is still spent alone, surfing, reading, whatever. I enjoy all the publicity, but sometimes I need to remember my priorities. In fact, sometimes I'd like to be just totally anonymous.


I know a lot of people who are idolized. I don't say that to brag, but just to show that surfing has the potential to be like any other big sport. Like when Billie Jean King visits Kauai, we spend the day together playing tennis and having lunch. I've been playing for 15 years, so I can keep the ball in play. Last February I flew to Las Vegas to participate in the All-Star Salute to Women's Sports at Caesar's Palace. got to meet and play tennis with a lot of famous people, like Carl Reiner, Alan King, Lloyd Bridges, Dean Martin, Dorothy Hammill, Bill Cosby, and a lot more. I gave away a free surfboard, and Billie Jean and I gave away a trip to Kauai, together with surfing lessons from me. Muhammad Ali donated his boxing trunks from the Leon Spinks loss.


She's more vocal for women's rights than I am. Jericho says exactly what Billie Jean King would say. In theory and opinions, I totally agree with her, but in the timing of when to say what, I sometimes disagree and tend to not want to rock the boat. My feeling is that we aren't yet able to bargain from a position of power in surfing. In tennis, the women can say they won't play unless they get more money, and they get it. In surfing, if we tried that, the sponsors would say "See ya later!"


I can see in the future the women having their own circuit. It'll explode in a couple of years because I think the general public is more interested in women surfers than men. You know, bikinis, women paddling out. It's really a shock to see a little girl on a big wave. Plus women have more style and grace than the men, and they move slower, which make them easier to watch.

"Conversations: Margo Oberg," also by Drew Kampion, ran in the May 1984 issue of Surfing. This version, below, has been shortened and slightly edited

You seemed to be leaving surfing competition behind to put all your energy into family life, but then you came roaring back to win the World Cup last winter. What turned you around?

Basically what happened was, I'd won the world title in '80 and '81, I'd won something like five contests in a row, and I was really at peace with myself. I'd applied myself and accomplished things, and I felt that this was the time to kind of kick back for a while and have a baby. I thought that if I slipped out for a while, I wouldn't really miss out on much. And that was really cute because once I did, all of a sudden there were about five 18-year-olds that the media just went crazy with, saying that these girls were gonna be the next champs and blah, blah, blah.

Have you ever thought about just giving up on competition permanently?

Well, I have done that, actually, a couple of times. But I've always left the door open. If the timing was right, I was always open to go, and that's mainly how I'm doing it now. I still feel that I can compete and do well—it's just basically a financial thing and a family thing, whether I travel or not.

Cup and looked around at all the hot young talent, did you feel intimidated or maybe that you'd fallen behind a bit?

It might sound really cocky, but no, I really didn't. As a matter of fact, when the waves were big, I saw their limitations more than I was aware of mine. Quite a few of the girls who are really good in small waves just sat on the shoulder, and you could tell by the look on their faces that they were thinking, "Boy, I sure don't want to wipe-out on one of those!" On the other hand, a couple of girls that I didn't expect to do so well really charged. It was really interesting to see—when the waves were big—who was up to it. I'm always impressed by that go-for-it attitude in big waves, more than by a lot of flair in small surf.

So you felt that your chances of winning the World Cup were pretty good before the event actually started?

You're the most experienced professional woman surfer in the world; do you find that as you get older, you tend to draw more on experience than sheer physical ability?

Yeah. I would say that I feel physically adequate, that I can handle the job. But a lot of the girls have more body weight and strength than I do; they train more. I'm physically tuned enough, but when it comes to strategy and experience, that's where I've really got a jump on things. Especially at a place like Sunset, where I can read the shifting peaks and see the swells on the horizon and where you have to look for a certain kind of wave. If you've surfed out there a lot, you kind of know what it's going to do; and basically, most girls haven't surfed out there a lot.

Has women's pro surfing advanced as much in the last ten years as you would've expected?

I don't think it's advanced as much financially or media-wise, as I'd hoped ten years ago. I'd hoped that one of the girls would break through into national advertising with one of the cosmetic companies or a soda pop company or something, and a big corporation would throw in a couple hundred thousand dollars. On the other hand, it's developed a lot as far as public acceptance and recognition and overall professionalism goes. Women's athletics is really popular right now, and people show respect that you surf. And also today: there are a lot more girls who surf, and there are a lot of girls who surf really really good. I remember going to the beach and I'd see girls surf and I'd say, "Alright, they're having fun!" Now I go out and I see quite a few girls who are really good; there are a lot I wouldn't want to go one-on-one with.

Okay, in a small-wave contest—which is primarily what the ASP circuit is—the girls I consider major threats are Frieda Zamba and Kim Mearig. They're the two major ones that I would worry about.

[Photos: Jeff Divine, Tom Servais, Lou Perez]

Margo Oberg (1979, 1984)

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