Surfing 5:
Organized Competition
The Hawaiians who started it all had surfing competitions, but they were undoubtedly simple races, as were early California contests. As surfers became more proficient at executing difficult maneuvers, however, objective judging entered the sport, as in diving, gymnastics and figure skating.
The first really major competitive event was the Makaha International Surfing Championship, which began in 1953. Some surfers suspected that the contest was fixed, since Hawaiians won every championship for the first nine years (probably because the judges were all from the local Outrigger Canoe Club). But in 1962 an Australian, Bernard "Midget" Farrelly, was the winner.
Because of Farrelly’s victory, Ampol Petroleum agreed to sponsor the first World Surfboard Championship at Manly, Australia, in 1964. Farrelly won that, too. More important, the International Surfing Federation (ISF) was organized to develop standardized rules and to conduct future world championships.
The ISF held championships in 1965 and 1966 and then staged them at two-year intervals from 1968 through 1972. The federation then fell apart because of a split between amateurs and professional surfers.
Two new governing bodies were formed in 1976, International Professional Surfing (IPS) to organize and govern the pro tour and the International Surfing Association (ISA) for amateur surfing. The ISA has held world championships in even-numbered years since 1978.
The IPS was replaced by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) in 1983. The ASP operates the World Championship Tour, which is open only to 44 surfers. The World Qualifying System awards qualifying points for competitions within individual countries.
In September of 1997, the International Olympic Committee recognized the ISA as the international governing body for surfing. A new organization, Surfing America, was then established as the national governing body for the United States.