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

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

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, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Baronial surf contest organizer from Lima, Peru; founder, in 1964, of the International Surfing Federation, and director of the World Surfing Championships in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, and 1972. Arena was born (1928) and raised in Lima, and began riding waves in 1948 in front of Club Waikiki in Miraflores, the birthplace and longtime hub of Peruvian surfing. He took an engineering degree from Lima's National University in Lima in 1950, and three years later received a master's in engineering from UCLA.

Arena won the debut Peru International contest in 1956, and in 1964 traveled to Australia to represent Peru in the first World Surfing Championships. While in Sydney, Arena laid the groundwork for the formation of the International Surfing Federation (ISF), to consolidate the surf world's quickly multiplying organizations, and to provide an overseeing body for future World Championship events. A few weeks later the group was chartered, with Arena elected chairman. The ISF produced the 1965 World Championships, held in Lima, with Arena serving admirably as contest director; "a dapper Peruvian gentleman," Australian contestant Nat Young later recalled, "with a warm smile and a distinguished mane of gray hair."

It was Arena, more than anyone, who first codified the rules and regulations of international competitive surfing. He also helped convince ABC to cover the 1966 World Championships in San Diego, California, as well as the 1968 Championships in Puerto Rico. The 1970 and 1972 Championships (held in Victoria, Australia, and San Diego, respectively) didn't go nearly as well as the previous three, and in late 1972 Arena and the ISF both quietly withdrew from international amateur surfing. Arena did, however, help organize and run the Smirnoff Pro-Am, in Hawaii, during the early '70s.

In 2008, Arena received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association.

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Videos