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Giving the ClubbiesTheir Credit." The Surf Lifesavers and their part in the History of The SurfBoard." No one ever succeeded in standing on a board. A
Dee Why identity of the period, “Long" Harry Taylor, made a board
resembling an old fashioned church door, but his efforts in the surf
were so futile they became ludicrous. At the beginning of 1915 Hawaiian
swimmer and Olympic gold medal winner, Duke Paao Kahanamoku, was in
Australia at the invitation of the Australian Amateur Swimming
Association. Staying with friends at a camp at
Freshwater, Kahanamoku often rode the waves at that beach, using a
solid board made of sugar pine about 8 feet long. The Dee Why Club decided to invite Kahanamoku to give an exhibition of board riding at the Club’s surf carnival on February 6, 1915. Admission to the carnival was 1/- and the attendance was so great special trams were run to Dee Why on the newly extended tramline from Brookvale to Narrabeen. Kahanamoku gave an outstanding exhibition often riding waves 12 feet high, and for nearly 150 yards, Beach and surf events were almost overlooked by the huge crowd , as eyes were strained seaward to watch the Hawaiian. This was the first public exhibition of surfboard riding seen in Australian, and it opened the way for the thousands of boards now seen on Australian beaches. By 1933 the hollow surfboard made its appearance. Speedier and more buoyant than the solid board, it was often used for rescues close to rocks where it was difficult for a surfboat to go. However, it was not until 1945 that the SLSA decided that surfboards could be officially used for rescues. copy credit: dee why slsc site. |
