Bernard "Midget" Farrelly (13 September 1944 – 6 August 2016) was the first

world surfing champion The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, bodyboarding and all other wave riding activities. The ISA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee. After the 202 ...

. Farrelly, was the first Australian to win a major surfing title, the 1962 Makaha International Surfing Championships, the unofficial world surfing championship of the day. In 1964 he won the inaugural World Surfing Championship at Manly Beach in Sydney. Farrelly was also the first president, in 1961, of Australia's oldest surfboard riders club, Dee Why Surfing Fraternity, which still operates under the same name today. He presented a ten-part television series about surfing in Australia, ''The Midget Farrelly Surf Show'', for the

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in 1967. Farrelly was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the Surfing Walk of Fame at California's Huntington Beach in 2007. Farrelly died on 6 August 2016, aged 71, from stomach cancer and liver failure. Farrelly was posthumously inducted as a Member of the Order of Australia in the

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* 1944 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Sydney Australian surfers Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Order of Australia Deaths from stomach cancer Sportsmen from New South Wales {{Australia-surfing-bio-stub