Surfing’s Half-Century
- November 22nd, 2012
- Posted by 7thmin
“The good things about surfing are that it’s good for you, it’s good fun – and it’s for free”.
So said Neville Wran, one-time New South Wales Premier, meeting up with a group of young Sydney surfers in the 1970s.
The surf has great appeal to political leaders reaching out to up-coming generations.
The acting Prime Minister this week, Wayne Swan, suggested he might use his special powers (with the PM out of the country), to make the sport compulsory for all, at least until they got to 18.
He was launching the issue of a commemorative coin to mark an official inauguration of surfing, with the formation of the Surfriders’ Association, later Surfing Australia, in 1963.
(See launch picture, with champions, and Duke Kahanamoku board, at Freshwater, NSW).
That beginning-time was in the days of hot-dog boards, Bombora, woodies and the Maroubra stomp; Australian competitors later took a leading part in the highly professionalised competitions of the later decades; while riding the waves has still remained something “for free”, and for all.
As the Acting Prime Minister would say: “Like thousands of aussies, surfing the local breaks was a treasured bit of my younger years, and it’s been really heartening to see surfing in Australia go from strength to strength over the past half century — which this new coin celebrates.”
The coin is nominally 50-cents, comes in a surfboard-shaped box, and can be bought from the Royal Australian Mint for A$9, see http://www.ramint.gov.au/
The coin issue will be followed by the release, also, of commemorative postage stamps, available though buying at Post Offices in Australia, or by getting somebody to send you a letter from there.
Reference
Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, “Surfing Australia Releases Commemorative Coin With Royal Australian Mint To Celebrate 50th Anniversary – Surfing Australia 1963 – 2013”, 4.9.12.
http://www.ramint.gov.au/media/press-releases/2012/20120904.cfm, (21.11.12).
Pictures
brouleesurfschool, ramint, surfing australia