It has been around for a long time. Did you know that Captain Cook described surfing for the first time in 1778? One surfer he saw in Hawaii he described as someone who felt “the most supreme pleasure while being driven so fast and smoothly by the seas” - pretty cool huh?
Here are 10 interesting facts about surfing:
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1. Surfing is among the oldest sports on Earth. Recently, archaeologists discovered prehistoric stone carvings in Chan Chan, Peru that date back over 5,000 years and show surfers!
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2. The first major surf contest was held in California in 1928.
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3. Gary Saavedra rode the wake of a speed boat for 3 hours 55 minutes, setting the world record for the longest ride.
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4. The longest ride ever was a tidal bore wave in the Amazon River, which was 37 minutes long.
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5. World War II pushed surfing to the next level…
sort of. After the war, new chemicals were made; Styrofoam, resin, and fiberglass were used to produce the boards we are familiar with today.
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6. Patrick Swayze broke four ribs whilst filming arguably the best Hollywood surf film, Point Break.
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7. The biggest wave ever recorded was 1738 feet!
Yes, you read that right, it was a mega-tsunami that hit Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958.
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8. Kelly Slater, who made $3million in 2011, holds the record for the most money earned by a surfer in one year.
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9. The record for the amount of surfboards stacked on top of a car is an astonishing 282 which then drove 30 metres in California.
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10. Surfing is now a $30 billion a year industry with over 27 million surfers worldwide. Every year we witness a growing number of online surf shops.
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What about you? Haver you ever tried surfing?!