The History of Surfing
Women Surfers
Surfing is often thought of as a male sport, but in fact women have
enjoyed surfing since the days of ancient Hawai'i, and in California
since the early 1920's. Today, you can find "wahine" surfers in
every surfing country. Like the men, 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. She was the first of a long line which stretched down in
the 60's to Marge Calhoun and her daughters, and naturally 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 Duke Kahanamoku when
the Duke introduced Australians to board riding at Freshwater in
1915. In the early60's, Australians Phyllis O'Donnell and Gail
Couper were very influential for women's surfing.
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 young women in surfing.
Linda Merrill's surfing style incorporated ballet-like artistry as she
danced from the tail to the nose on Hawaiian and Californian waves
in the early 60's.
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. Walter, her father, was
totally involved in surfing, and Uncle Phillip would go anywhere to
ride that perfect wave.
Joyce totally dominated the women's surfing scene in the mid to
late 60's. Joyce was honored as one of the original eight inductees
into the International Surfing Hall of Fame, which pays tribute to the
many individuals who made surfing what it is today.
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. She won the
W.I.S.A. Hang Ten Championships at Malibu (the first all-women's
international pro). Margo's illustrious career of complete domination
of her sport was unequaled by any male 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,
two ladies who have worked hard at producing this social change.
Jericho grew up in Long Beach, California, and Rell in Makaha
Beach, Hawai'i. In the mid 60's, they were both regarded as
strange, in the almost totally male-dominated sport. Jericho was
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 womanamateur 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.
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