COO – Andrea Swayne andrea@usasurfing.org Andrea Swayne began her involvement with organized surfing competition in the early 2000s when her daughter Madi began a 12-year amateur surfing career. She was a partner in HB Wahine, the first all-girls surf school, team and surf shop in Orange County, CA. Swayne was a member of the Western Surfing Association Board of Directors from 2005 to 2019. In 2006 she started the WSA Menehune Surf Fest, pioneering the push-in division (allowing a parent/coach to push young surfers into waves during competition heats) now widely used by amateur surf series worldwide. In 2008 she cofounded (with Greg Cruse) the Surfing America Prime series surf tour (now USA Surfing Prime). After serving as WSA Representative to the Surfing America Board of Directors, in 2015 she was elected as an officer and served as Secretary and Board Chair/President. She was instrumental (along with Cruse) in USA Surfing's successful bid for USOPC National Governing Body status and served as the Board Chair/President of USA Surfing from 2017 to 2020, when she accepted the staff position of Chief Operations Officer.
Andrea is the former senior editor at Picket Fence Media (San Clemente Times, Dana Point Times and The Capistrano Dispatch). During her eight years there she also served as surf editor, providing a consistent platform for media coverage of Southern California's amateur surf tour athletes and homegrown pros. She is an entrepreneur in the event planning/production business. Her highest profile non-surfing event is the Dana Point Festival of Whales, a 50-year tradition welcoming more than 50,000 visitors each year to celebrate the migration of the ocean's largest mammals past Dana Point’s shores and learn about the vital importance of caring for the ocean environment and its inhabitants. A lifelong artist, Andrea enjoys making custom trophies for the USA Surfing Prime West Series and occasionally works as a freelance journalist and photographer.
