Carissa Moore has had quite the year – a first ever surfing gold medal at the sport’s Olympic debut and a fifth world championship clinched just a few weeks ago at Lower Trestles. Now, her name has been set in granite stone at the Surfing Walk of Fame on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach.
But there’s still one accolade missing.
“I just want General Mills to put her on a Wheaties box,” joked Peter “PT” Townend, surfing’s first world champ and the co-emcee for the event Thursday, Sept. 23, drawing an applause from the crowd. “A surfer has never been on the Wheaties box, do you know that? Never. I’m petitioning now that we want Carissa Moore on the Wheaties box.”
Moore, honored as “Woman of the Year,” was among a new class of inductions into the Surfing Walk of Fame in front of Jack’s Surfboards. The others included Damien Hardman (Surf Champion), Mike Tabeling (Surf Pioneer), Cecil Lear and Hoppy Swarts (Surf Culture), Mike Downey (Local Hero) and Tim Brown and Ron Abdelfattah (Honor Roll).
The event is held annually during the U.S. Open of Surfing, which is heading into its final days of competition this weekend.
The induction was postponed last year by the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday’s gathering marked the 27th year of honoring the sport’s legends in Surf City, with more than 165 names added since its inception in 1994.
The first surfer to be honored Thursday was Abdelfattah, co-owner of Jack’s and one of the Walk of Fame founders.
“This has been my home for many years. Being honored this year shows the loyalty and commitment I have made for my community,” he said.
Next up was Swarts, a South Bay surfer who formed the United States Surfing Association in 1996, laying the foundation for competitive surfing today. He started surfing in Hermosa Beach in the ’30s, becoming a member of the Palos Verdes Surfing Club in 1934 and decades later, in 1974, drafted the framework for the United States Surfing Federation. He died in 1988.
Accepting his award was his son, Buzz, who talked about his dad’s early surfing years and how he formed and was the first president of the USSA.
“They were concerned about the image of surfing. They figured they had to come up with a way to enhance the image,” Buzz said, noting that his dad formulated the original scoring system with his mathematical genius mind. “Things just blossomed from there.”
Lear was also instrumental in the early-day competitive surfing scene, co-founder of the Eastern Surfing Association in the ’60s. At the event, Lear talked about how his mom and dad introduced him to the beach, sparking a love for the ocean that has never left him.
“You can’t believe how proud and honored I am to be acknowledged for helping out surfing. It was a labor of love,” he said. “I’ve gotten so much reward, met so many friends, it’s mind-boggling.”
Hardman, a two-time world champion (1987 and 1991), couldn’t make the event due to strict Australian travel restrictions. After tallying 19 event wins throughout his career, he was the first male surfer to win seven events in one season.
Rip Curl North America President Dylan Slater, talking about how he looked up to Hardman’s surf style through the years, accepted his award and read a speech from Hardman: “I’m incredibly proud and humbled to be inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame… I loved traveling and competing at the Huntington Beach Pier. I had a real love-hate relationship with the pier,” noting it scared him on bigger days.
Tabeling was the first Florida surfer to earn impressive contest results through the late 1960s and early 1970s, with his runner-up finish at the 1968 U.S. Championships catapulting him to stardom.
“One of the finest things he did as a pioneer was spread stoke,” said his son Travis, who accepted the award. “This means a lot to our family, and that family also includes all of you guys and the hundreds of people he touched while he was here. It’s hard to speak for a man who is so full of creative surprises.”
If his father were here today, he would encourage people to not be afraid of being “a first” or to “accomplish something seemingly inconceivable,” Travis Tebeling said.
Tim Brown, who earned an Honor Roll designation, is a sports chiropractor who has worked on countless surfers, including the world’s best, talking about how he wanted to find a job that would allow him to spend time at the beach and surf.
“Live what you love,” he said. “I found a way to combine my love and passion for surfing and my love for health and fitness.”
Local Hero Downey has been a coach, an emcee and served on the board for the Professional Longboard Association. He credited his dad with pushing him in the surf.
Downey talked about the early days of Surf City, some of the town still undeveloped, back when he boxed surfboards for Plastic Fantastic along with Rick “Rockin’ Fig” Fignetti, an icon in the city who died earlier this summer.
“I watched the transformation of this town,” he said. “Why we’re all here today is to celebrate Surf City.”
With Moore back in Hawaii, her award was accepted on her behalf by her USA Surfing coach, Brett Simpson, who talked about her aloha spirit.
“She loves love,” Simpson said, noting how Moore has her foundation, Moore Aloha, which encourages young girls to surf. “She’s just damn special…she melts your heart.”
Moore sent a video for the induction ceremony.
“It has been an incredible year this year and it wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of my family, friends and fans around the world,” she said. “Receiving this award is a really special way to wrap up 2021.”
