A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

First all-women's competitive surfing association, based in Huntington Beach, California; founded on March 8 (International Women's Day), 1975, by pro surfers Jericho Poppler and Mary Setterholm, in part to help address the sport's gender inequities. "Surfing does not demand aggressive strength," Setterholm noted when she introduced the Women's International Surfing Association (WISA). "Waves treat everyone equally; men and women are on the same terms as far as nature is concerned."

Launched during a low point in American commercial surfing, WISA nonetheless opened strongly with well-run amateur events at San Onofre, Huntington, and Newport Beach, followed by the $3,000 Hang Ten Women's International Professional Surfing Championships at Malibu. Included among the 24 Hang Ten entrants were women from Japan, Great Britain, and Australia; 1968 world champion Margo Oberg of Hawaii won the $1,500 first-place prize. Perfectly illustrating what Setterholm had earlier described as the "hustling, cussing, intimidating pressure" of the average surf lineup, dozens of male surfers refused to clear the water at Malibu, forcing the women competitors to swerve and dodge their way across the waves.

WISA's California-based contest circuit was played for laughs as well as sisterhood and ratings points; the Newport Small Wave Regatta, for example, featured a surfing-and-hula-hoop division.

After being sexually assaulted by a group of surfers at a party, WISA president Setterholm moved to New York in 1976, and longtime California surfer Mary Lou Drummy became the organization's second and final president, assisted throughout by Poppler. When the 1976-founded International Professional Surfers world tour added a women's division in 1977, WISA had difficulty competing for surf industry prize money. The organization continued to hold events, but was in decline by the early '80s. After a renewed burst of activity in 1990, when Drummy put together an eight-contest circuit for 100 active members, WISA was starved for sponsorship during the 1991 surf industry recession, and folded not long afterward.

Top WISA competitors over the years included world champions Debbie Beacham and Kim Mearig.

In 2016, the founding members of WISA were inducted to the Surfing Walk of Fame, in Huntington Beach.

Women's International Surfing Association (WISA)

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