Waterman Hall of Fame Who’s Who
ByThe Hawaiian Waterman Hall of Fame has been established in Waikiki, Honolulu with nine initial inductees. Who are the nine recent inaugural inductees to the Hawaii Waterman Hall of Fame? Let’s take a look at each of these waterman and so we can better appreciate their contributions to surf culture.
Duke Kahanamoku – Known as the “Father of Modern Surfing”, Duke Kahanmoku was a world record holding Olympic gold medalist and for more than a decade was the fastest swimmer in the world. As he toured the world with swimming exhibitions he also spread the sport of surfing by introducing surfing to the east coast of America,to Australia and New Zealand and was instrumental in popularizing surfing in California and Hawaii.
Eddie Aikau – Renowned big wave surfer and the first lifeguard on the North Shore of Oahu at Waimea Bay where he saved many lives. The famous saying “Eddie would Go” is a reference to his willingness to charge the largest waves or attempt a rescue in any conditions. The Quiksilver Eddie Aikau, the world’s most prestigious big wave contest held at Waimea, is named after him and popularly called The Eddie.
Rell Sunn – The first female lifeguard in Hawaii, one of the pioneers of women’s surfing was known as the Queen of Makaha. She was one of the original women on the first professional tour and was a founder of the Women’s Professional Surf Association and also founded the Women’s Surfing Hui in Hawaii. She was ranked #1 in 1982 in longboard.
Wally Froiseth -Pioneer of Makaha and the North shore in the 30′s. One of the creators of hot curl boards, the first boards designed for big waves, which led to the big wave gun boards of today.
Fred Hemmings – Champion contest surfer who won 4 Makaha International Surfing Championships, and the 1968 World surfing Championship title in Puerto Rico. Also a champion canoe paddler he was the steersman on four Molokai to Oahu Outrigger Canoe racing Champion teams. Known as the father of professional surfing because of all the contests he organized. He created the Pipeline Masters, the Duke Classic at Sunset Beach, the World Cup of Surfing and then combined all three into the Triple Crown of Surfing. He served as a television commentator for surf and canoe racing and is a Hawaiian Senator.
Buffalo Keaulana – He grew up on Makaha and became Makaha’s most famous son. A competitive surfer who placed in the top four six different times in the Makakha International Contest from 1957 to 1965 and he won the competition in 1960. He was also a great bodysurfer. He was named lifeguard chief at Makaha, a position he held for 25 years. His Makaha surf contest and beach party, Buffalo’s Big Board Classic, has been going for 3 decades. His sons Rusty and Brian are two of Hawaii’s most famous modern waterman and Brian Keaulana is one of the co-founders of C4 Waterman, the original stand up paddle board company.
Rabbit Kekai – A surfer known as the father of hotdog surfing, for his innovation of drop knee turns on short finless boards, a pioneer of the north shore and a winner of Peruvian and Makaha International surfing titles in the 1950′s. He was one of the founders of the Waikiki Surf Club and is also known as the last Waikiki Beach Boy.
Keo Nakama – A world record holder for the mile swim in the 1940′s, he won13 NCAA and AAU National titles, 27 National Championships, 5 Pan American Games titles, and 5 Australian National titles but was never able to compete in the Olympics because of World War II. He was the greatest swimmer of his era and held many world records from the mile to 27 miles. His most famous accomplishment was when at 41 years oldwhen he became the first person to swim the Molokai to Oahu 27 mile channel and he did it in 15 1/2 hours. Hawaii’s premier swimming competition, the annual The Keo Nakama Swimming Invitational, has been held for over 50 years. He is a member of the International Swimmers Hall of Fame.
Nappy Napoleon – He is one of Hawaii’s greatest paddling legends and the founder of the Anuenue Canoe Club. He has completed the 47 mile Molkai Hoe (Molokai to Waikiki), an unprecedented 50 times. This is considered the world championship of long distance outrigger canoe paddling for men’s teams and he has won it 6 times. The clothing company Patagonia even named a color of their outdoor apparel line “nappy green”. His son Aaron and his grandsons Sepa and Riggs are all now making a name for themselves in stand up paddling.
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