As Australian surfer Lucy Small stood in front of the crowd in Sydney after being presented with a cheque of less value than the men's division, her brain told her not to say it.
She tried to stop herself, but her frustration got the better of her.
So, she said it.
"Thank you so much to the sponsors for the money they've put into the event, but I would say it's a bittersweet victory knowing that our surfing is worth less than half of the men's prize money," she said.
She continued.
"Flights were the same cost to fly here, accommodation costs the same — yet our surfing's worth half as much, so maybe we could think about that for next time."
And it was then, she says, that she became an accidental activist.
But on the two-year anniversary of her speech at the Maljam Pro event, Small says equality in women's sport still has a long way to go.
Growing up in Denmark, WA
Small was raised in Denmark, a coastal community on Western Australia's south coast.
She recalls spending all summer riding down to the beach on her bike and surfing with friends.
"It was such a wholesome place to grow up," Small said.
But surfing was her brother's sport, so Small didn't start surfing properly until she was 14.
"He always said surfing was his sport so I wasn't allowed," she joked.
Her father bought her lessons for Christmas and she was immediately hooked — even though her English teacher had been attacked by a shark along the same coast.
The speech that sparked a revolution
Small's speech in 2021 was part of a revolution in women's sport.
Of her act of bravery, campaigns were born where women demanded to be shown equality in sport, such as Equal Pay for Equal Play NSW.
She was angered that the women's prize was $1,500 while the men's winner pocketed $4,000.
"I was pretty shocked about that," she said.
"And I called them out for it."
In 2018, the World Surf League became the first major US-based professional sporting code to commit to equal prize money for men and women at all its elite events.
But that decision had not filtered down to all levels of surfing competition.
And on the two-year anniversary of her speech, Small said not enough had been done across the board to reach gender equality in sport.
She singled out the AFLW as a code that was yet to reach equality.
The average wage of an AFLW player was not even a living wage in Australia, she said.
Small also called out how some women's sporting teams were booted from training ovals when the men wanted to train.
"There's just so much that has to be done," she said.
Waves of success
Last month, Small released a short film called Yama with Maddie Meddings, after the pair travelled to Ghana to document women in a budding surfing and skating village.
The film is being played in film festivals across the country.
"It's been so cool to get this idea to come to life," she said.
Small also has her sights set on the upcoming World Longboard Championships in El Salvador.
She managed to land a spot on the Australian National Team and is looking forward to surfing new waves.
"It's a right point break, I've heard [El Salvador] is pretty good."
