In 1972, Judge Robert Gardner wrote a book called "The Art of Body Surfing." Based on his account, we reviewed the events that helped shape the history of bodysurfing.
Board surfing had a well-documented moment of historical recognition - the day in February 1778 when Captain Cook sailed into Hawaiian waters and reported seeing a man who "appeared to be flying over the water."
Bodysurfing, however, lacks such chronicling. It emerged quietly, without official acknowledgment.
Yet, centuries ago, someone standing in waist-deep water on a continental shelf likely pushed off into a wave, face down and hands outstretched, experiencing the exhilaration of being carried to shore.
Word must have spread: "Have you heard about Crazy Og? Rides waves to the beach."
Others followed, and bodysurfing was born.
Soon, someone, tired of scraping their knuckles on the rocks, realized they could ride with their head up and arms at their sides, refining the technique.
The Three Evolutionary Eras
The history of bodysurfing can be divided into three distinct periods: pre-swim-fin, post-swim-fin, and the present.
Before the invention of swim fins - roughly before World War II - bodysurfers struggled to generate enough speed to control a wave.
In 1899, Australian Fred Williams learned the art of bodysurfing from Tommy Tanna, a Polynesian islander brought to Sydney as a gardener.
Williams then passed on his newfound skill to local "surf-bathers," helping to introduce wave-riding to Australian waters.
In the 1920s and 1930s, riding waves meant either going "straight off" or being tossed "over the falls."
It was daring and dangerous, drawing crowds in the same way onlookers gather to watch someone hesitating on the edge of a tall building.
It required strength, bravery, or recklessness.
The introduction of swim fins transformed bodysurfing into an art.
With enough speed, bodysurfers could cut diagonally across a wave, ride the unbroken shoulder of green water, or perform tricks like spinners, outriggers, and layouts.
This evolution contributed to a resurgence of interest.
In 1968, a bodysurfing contest in Newport Beach, California, attracted over a hundred participants - more than the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach had drawn just a few years earlier.
Today, bodysurfing continues to grow in popularity.
Hawaiian Origins and Californian Popularization
As with board surfing, the Hawaiians, renowned watermen, pioneered bodysurfing, or "Kaha Halu."
Legend holds that when King Kamehameha invaded Oahu with his fleet of outrigger canoes, he landed at Makapu - now a revered bodysurfing spot - where some of his warriors rode the waves ashore.
Fast-forwarding in history, the water sport first gained popularity in the United States in the mid-1920s, thanks to Olympic swimmer Wally O'Conner of Los Angeles.
At local beaches, O'Conner captivated crowds with his signature move - diving beneath an incoming wave, executing a push-turn off the sandy bottom, and then rocketing out of the shore-bound white water in a dramatic display of skill and power.
Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian surfing icon, bodysurfed along the East Coast at Far Rockaway and Sea Gate in the 1920s.
But just as with board surfing, it was Californians who popularized the sport.
The early hot spots were Long Beach Pier and Balboa Pier, where, during the post-World War I period and into the 1920s, groups of strong watermen made bodysurfing a fixture.
Neither beach remains suitable for bodysurfing today, as a breakwater turned Long Beach Pier into a calm pool and a beach fill created a yacht harbor at Balboa Pier, destroying the waves.
At the time, bodysurfing theory held that big men could "break down" waves and ride them straight to shore.
Unsurprisingly, two University of Southern California football legends - Morley Drury at Long Beach and Jeff Cravath at Balboa - were among the greats of this era.
Another familiar name owes his career, in part, to bodysurfing.
In August 1926, a 19-year-old USC football player named Marion Michael Morrison wiped out at Balboa Pier, tore his shoulder ligaments, and ended his promising football career.
Instead, he turned to acting and became the legendary John Wayne.
The Advent of Performance Bodysurfing
In the late 1920s, a group of younger surfers at Balboa Pier discovered that, despite lacking the size of their two-hundred-pound elders, they could perform acrobatic maneuvers as they tumbled down the faces of big waves.
Small, agile, and fearless, they executed jackknife dives, swan dives, tucks, and rolls.
Among these pioneers were Tagg Atwood, Spenny Richardson, Red Kidder, and a self-effacing individual who preferred to remain unnamed.
An enduring legend from the pre-swim-fin days was the belief in the seventh wave (or, in some places, the third, ninth, or twelfth wave).
Waves arrive in sets, followed by a lull and a riptide. Without fins, a bodysurfer caught in the trough of a set had no way to escape.
The belief took hold that the seventh wave was both the biggest and the last of the set.
For those facing down a massive wave, faith in this myth provided the courage to take the drop.
Unfortunately, reality often proved otherwise.
Taking off on what was believed to be the "final" wave often led to a brutal wipeout, followed by several more waves hammering the hapless surfer.
A breaking wave carries an incredible force that defies simple explanation. It isn't just a mass of water succumbing to gravity - it's a driving, pounding force.
The concave wall of water sucks from the front while piling up in the back, creating a tremendous impact when it crashes.
A scientist at Scripps Institute of Oceanography once estimated that if a bodysurfer were placed under a 20-foot Wedge wave, the lip's impact could cut him in half.
Without fins, bodysurfers often found themselves at the mercy of the waves, stuck in the trough, relying on the dubious belief that the seventh wave would bring an end to the ordeal.
Corona Del Mar Jetty: A Bodysurfing Machine
In 1928, a significant change came to bodysurfing with the construction of the Corona Del Mar Jetty.
Located at the entrance of Balboa Bay (now Newport Harbor), Corona Del Mar was known for its long waves.
Duke Kahanamoku and fellow surfers had been riding the waves there, but boating accidents led the city of Newport Beach to build a second jetty on the east side of the channel.
This concrete structure extended over 800 feet into the surf, inadvertently creating perfect conditions for bodysurfers.
The waves, enhanced by the jetty, provided long rides.
Surfers would ride in, climb a chain ladder (at the expense of some lost skin), run back along the jetty, and dive in for another ride.
The jetty's slick surface also inspired a dangerous game of chicken, where two surfers would slide toward each other, hoping the other would flinch.
Occasionally, neither backed down - leading to bloody consequences.
This bodysurfing haven ended in the mid-1930s when authorities extended the jetty with a hundred yards of rock.
In 1931, Los Angeles bodysurfer Ron Drummond made history by publishing "The Art of Wave-Riding," a concise 26-page guide that served as the first-ever book dedicated to surfing.
The following year, California surfer Owen Churchill traveled to Hawaii, where he observed locals enhancing their kick strokes - and making it easier to catch waves - by fastening palm fronds to their feet with tar.
Inspired by this simple yet effective technique, Churchill tucked the idea away in his mind, eventually refining it into what would become an essential piece of bodysurfing gear.
In 1940, he introduced the Churchill "Duck Feet" swim fin, revolutionizing the sport by giving bodysurfers greater speed and control in the water.
Around the same time, another breakthrough came from Santa Monica lifeguard Cal Porter, who developed a new technique that changed bodysurfing forever.
Instead of riding waves straight toward the shore, he learned to angle his trajectory, allowing him to cut across the wave face - a skill that would later become fundamental to the sport.
By World War II, bodysurfing remained limited to a select few spots in California, Hawaii, and Australia, with fewer than a hundred skilled bodysurfers worldwide.
The Rise of Swim Fins
Although swim fins had been developed before the war, it was their use by the US Navy's Amphibious Scouts and Raiders and underwater demolition teams that popularized them.
By the late 1940s and early 1950s, fins became standard equipment.
Initially, they were mainly used for transportation - getting past the trough and catching waves from further outside.
But soon, an anonymous innovator realized that the speed provided by high-quality swin fins allowed for cutting across the wave face, much like board surfers had been doing for years.
The discovery revolutionized the sport, leading to advanced techniques.
While many contributed to this transition, two individuals stand out: Mickey Muñoz of California and Buffalo Keaulana of Hawaii.
Muñoz, a compact powerhouse of energy and determination, and Keaulana, graceful as a seal, helped elevate bodysurfing to a new level.
A New Era for Bodysurfing
Though everyone believes they can bodysurf, the skill was once limited to an elite few.
However, over the last decades, bodysurfing has surged in popularity.
Many beaches now restrict - during black ball flag days - or ban board surfing, leading displaced surfers to embrace bodysurfing.
Like board surfing in the late 1950s, bodysurfing is striving for recognition, with contests drawing increasing interest.
The 1968 Newport Beach competition, the 1977 Oceanside World Bodysurfing Championship, and the 1977 Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic marked a turning point, drawing athletes from all over the world.
Enthusiasts eagerly anticipate future contests, where they can test their skills, learn new techniques, and continue advancing the art of bodysurfing.
Riders like Mark Cunningham and Mike Stewart brought bodysurf mastery into the 21st century.
The sport that uses the human body to ride waves was featured in the videos "Primal Surf" (2000) and "Pure Blue" (2001), and in the movies "Barefoot Adventure" (1960), "Gun Ho!" (1963), "The Endless Summer" (1966), "Going Surfin'" (1973), "We Got Surf" (1981) and "Come Hell or High Water" (2011).
Bibliography and References:
R. Gardner. "The Art of Body Surfing." Chilton Book Company, 1972
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
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