Learn

Hang ten baby! Shaka bra! Do these terms sound familiar? They are common phrases among the surfing crowd.

Although surfing is often thought of as a male sport, in fact women have enjoyed surfing since the days of ancient Hawaii, and in California since the early 1920’s. Today, you can find “wahine” (female) surfers in every surfing country. They range from amateurs to accomplished professionals, competing for cash prizes and corporate sponsors.

One of the earliest women surfers from California was Mary Ann Hawkins. Beginning in the 1930’s, she was the first in a long line which stretched through the 60’s with Marge Calhoun and her daughters, and to Linda Benson, followed by some of the top pro surfers of today.

The first Australian to ride a surfboard was, in fact, a woman: Isabel Letham, who rode tandem with the legendary Duke Kahanamoku when the Duke introduced Australians to board riding at Freshwater in 1915.

Surfing among women really became popular with the arrival of the Hollywood movies, like Gidget Goes Hawaiian, or Ride The Wild Surf. Linda Benson did the surfing action sequences for Gidget Goes Hawaiian, and while this is among her more memorable surfing experiences, she was Pacific Coast Women’s Champion in 1959, 1960 and 1961. In 1963, at the age of 18, Linda was one of the best-known women in surfing.

After winning the 1965 U.S. Surfboard Championships, Joyce Hoffman was world champion in1966-67. She grew up right on the beach in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Joyce dominated the women’s surfing scene in the mid to late 60’s and was honored as one of the original eight inductees into the International Surfing Hall of Fame.

Joyce and Joey Hamisaki, from Hawaii, were probably the first well-respected women surfers. In 1968, a new lady was on the scene, Margo Godfrey, who surfed with a “tom-boyish” style. In 1975, after 3 years of married life on Kauai, professional contests started and Margo was the first pro woman surfer.

More and more women are being attracted to surfing. The arrival of professional surfing has helped this process; so has the twin-fin board, being small, light and easier to turn than the single fin. But the people who have been mainly responsible for this change in public attitude are the professional women surfers themselves.

Two shining examples of this are Jericho Poppler and Rell Sunn. Jericho grew up in Long Beach, California, and Rell in Makaha Beach, Hawaii. In the mid 60’s, they were both looked at as a little odd, in the almost totally male-dominated sport. Jericho was the 1970 U.S. Women’s Champion, and 1976 World Champion. She was also responsible for instigating women’s professional surfing. Rell, “The Queen of Makaha,” began surfing at age 4. She was Hawaii’s number one woman amateur surfer for five years, and in 1975 joined the first women’s pro tour.

But then, when the growth of professionalism enabled them to travel and give their views to the world, they had little trouble raising genuine public support. They are both very dynamic ladies, and not only have become excellent ambassadors of surfing, but champions for preserving our ocean environment.

So girls, if you have a chance to get out and ride some waves, just do it! Don’t be afraid of those pesky boys hogging the waters.