women and surfing

Women surfers in ancient Hawaii rode alongside the men, had surf breaks named in their honor, were depicted in engravings, and even mythologized. An Oahu surfing chieftess was recalled in song and chant as a demigod with the power to transform into a gigantic lizard or huge shark; a 19th-century Hawaiian historian observed that "the gentler sex frequently carried off the highest honors" in surfing...