Second In Command: Sofia Mulanovich Shines In 2007

“I really never thought of a world title coming into Hawaii,” said Sofia Mulanovich shortly after winning the Roxy Pro Hawaii at Sunset Beach and finding out that she had a very real chance at capturing her second world title. “I just wanted to have fun, surf wave by wave and have a good contest. Now it’s on, it’s so on.”

And with a world title on the line, Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich headed to Maui to square off against Australian rookie phenom Stephanie Gilmore. And while in the end it was Stephanie that realized her date with destiny, Mulanovich, who finished the year in the runner-up slot, proved that after five years on tour, after being named Rookie of the Year in 2003, and winning the title outright in 2004, she’s more vital to the sport of surfing today than ever before.

Consider her year: In July she was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach. In September she won her third consecutive Surfer Poll Award. By October she’d helped pioneer and facilitate the Moncora Classic, the first WCT event ever held in Peru, which is even more impressive considering the event holds a two-year contract. She also found time to win both the Rip Curl Girls Festival, a WCT event held in Liencres, Spain, and the Roxy Pro Hawaii, as well as finish second in the ASP rankings.

For anybody else that would easily qualify as the best year of their life, for Sofia it seems to be becoming a bit routine. And as the 2007 World Championship Tour season has come to a close, one can only wait in anticipation to see what the girl who’s perpetually “so stoked” has in store for next year.