The well-known water sport, surfing, was started in the 12th century in Polynesia, a subregion of Oceania. They then brought the custom to Hawaii and made it a part of their tradition. Today, Hawaii is known as a great surfing destination and it's beautiful beaches. Surfing originally was called sliding, but as it became a part of more countries' culture, it changed to surfing.
The first time someone wrote about surfing that is known is ‘in Captain Cook's diary when he visited Hawaii,' Planet Surf Camps (2019). When Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1770, surfing became an important part of the Hawaiian culture and lifestyle. After Captain Cook arrived, surfing became less of the Hawaiian's lifestyle. In 1821 surfing was banned by missionaries in Hawaii because it was thought to be immoral, Duke Kahanamoku in the 1900's went to the Olympics for swimming and won, after that surfing was brought back into the Hawaiian culture and became popular again. Today, surfing is a fun, exhilarating and engaging water sport.
Surfing became a part of Australia's sports in the early 20th century. According to surfnation (2018) 'Tom Blake, an American surfer in 1926 made the first hollow board, it was made of a wooden frame covered in plywood. Before he invented a hollow board it is believed that early settlers and the Polynesians surfed on a wood plank. After Tom Blake invented his first surfboard design, he realised it had no control and so he decided to invent a single fin surfboard in the 1930's. The oldest surfboard is more than 200 years old; it is displayed in a museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mark Richardson in 1970 invented the twin fin setup on a surfboard, with this design he managed to win four surfing world titles. Three fin surfboards were created in 1980 by Simon Anderson, this is the surfboard design that we use today.
Today, surfing in Australia is a popular and engaging water sport for all ages. According to Surfertoday (2012) 'Australia is one of the greatest surfing nations and largest surf country in the Southern Hemisphere.' I enjoy going surfing because it is very fun and because I like all water sports.
References:
~ Planet Surfcamps. (2019). How it all Began and How it is Today - The History of Surfing. [online] Available at: https://planetsurfcamps.co.uk/history-of-surfing/. [Accessed 31 August. 2022]
~ Booth, D.G. (2018). Surfing | water sport. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/sports/surfing. [ Accessed 1 September. 2022]
~ Brodey Sheppard (2018). Surf & Surfboard History: 1778 to 2018 an Indepth time-machine. [online] Surf Nation. Available at: https://www.surfnation.com.au/blogs/news/surf-surfboard-history-1778-to-2018-an-indepth-time-machine. [Accessed 1 September. 2022]
~ Editor at SurferToday.com (2012). The timeline of Australian surfing history. [online] Surfertoday. Available at: https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-timeline-of-australian-surfing-history. [Accessed 8 September. 2022]