Smirnoff World Pro Am Surfing Championships

Updated on Oct 24, 2023

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Fred Hemmings, retired from competition as a surfer, began his career as an event promoter and ran the Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships between 1969 and 1977.

The Smirnoff World Pro-Am became known as the de facto professional World Championship because the International Surfing Federation had been unable to establish a format or sponsorship, so no official amateur championships were held between 1973 and 1975. Laura Lee Ching became the first woman to compete in the Smirnoff World Pro-Am in 1973.

The World Champions were:

1969 Corky Carroll, USA, & Margo Godfrey, USA;

1970 Nat Young, Australia;

1971 Gavin Rudolph, South Africa;

1972 Paul Neilsen, Australia;

1973 Ian Cairns, Australia;

1974 Reno Abellira, Hawaii;

1975 Mark Richards, Australia;

1976 Mark Warren, Australia, and Jericho Poppler, USA;

1977 Reno Abellira, Hawaii, and Jericho Poppler, USA.

The Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships were superseded by the International Professional Surfers (IPS).

References

Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships Wikipedia

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