Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle 2006

CHELSEA GEORGESON WINS THE RIP CURL PRO MADEMOISELLE

SEIGNOSSE, France (Monday, Sept. 4, 2006) – Chelsea Georgeson (AUS), the reigning ASP Women’s World Champion, has defended her Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle title today with a win over current world No. 1 Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) at Les Bourdaines today.

Georgeson remains third on the ASP ratings, but has lessened the gap between her and world No. 2 Layne Beachley (AUS). Redman-Carr who fell to second in the world last week, is back on top after her runner-up finish to Georgeson.

“I’m just happy to have my first win this year.” Georgeson said. “It feels like forever since my last win at Maui. It’s definitely been a hard start to the year, because Mel’s just been on fire. She won the first three contests of the year and there hasn’t been a whole lot of room for anyone else up there at the top. At the same time, it’s really good competition.”

Georgeson commanded today’s thirty-minute all-Australian final, leaving Redmann-Carr needing a combination of two excellent scoring waves to overtake her. This marks Georgeson’s third ASP Women’s World Tour victory in France – her first was in 2003.

“France has always been a really special place for me,” Georgeson said. “I love coming here, I love the people and the place. To come first here again feels really good and hopefully next year I can make it three in a row.”

Though no easy task, the current world champ is still mathematically capable of defending her world crown. She will, however, need to win at least two of the three remaining events on this year’s tour.