Marge Calhoun (20 March 1926 – 2 September 2017) was an American surfer. She was the first woman world champion surfer when she won the Makaha International competition on the Hawaiian island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Early life

Calhoun was born in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

in 1924. She spent her childhood weekends with her family on Venice Beach and

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, practicing swimming and diving. Calhoun was a competitive swimmer, having trained for the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July t ...

, before the event was cancelled due to World War II. She also worked as a stunt performer.

Surfing

In the 1950 decade, Calhoun got her first surfboard from her husband, Tom. She got into the sport and started riding the waves. In 1958 she and her friend Eve Fletcher spent a month in Hawaii, where Calhoun competed in and won the Makaha Invitational tournament. In 1961 she was a co-founder of the United States Surfing Association, being their first secretary and first woman surfing judge.

Personal life

Calhoun was married to Tom Calhoun. Her daughters

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and

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

are also surfers.

References

American surfers People from Hollywood, Los Angeles American stunt performers 1926 births 2017 deaths Women stunt performers American female surfers 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-surfing-bio-stub