2. Surfing is a surface water sport in which the
participant, referred to as a "surfer", rides a surfboard
on the forward face of a wave, which is most often
carrying the surfer towards shore.
3. The riding of waves has likely existed since humans began
swimming in the ocean. In this sense, bodysurfing is the
oldest type of wave-catching. Standing up on what is now
called a surfboard is a relatively recent innovation developed
by the Polynesians. The influences for modern surfing can be
directly traced to the surfers of pre-contact Hawaii.
5. History:
The art of surfing, called he'enalu in the Hawaiian
language, was first described in 1769 by Joseph Banks on
the HMS Endeavour during the first voyage of Captain
James Cook. Surfing was a central part of ancient
Polynesian culture and predates European contact. Boards
back then where made out of wood. Hawaiian people
integrated surfing into their culture and made surfing more
of an art than anything else.
6. Surfing is still not a Olympic sport yet but it is a sport and
there a lot of surfing competition all over the world each
year.
7. Three major subdivisions within stand-up
surfing are:
Longboarding Stand up paddle surfing
Shortboarding
Reflecting differences in board design, including surfboard length, riding
style, and the kind of wave that is ridden.
8. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized a 78 foot
wave ride filmed by ESPN as the largest wave ever
surfed.