Fred Hemmings Fred Hemmings (born January 9, 1946) is an American surfer, author, businessman, and politician. Born and raised in Hawaii, Fred Hemmings attended Punahou school where he was co- captain of the Honolulu league championship football team in 1964 ...

, 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 Laura Lee Ching, also known as Laura Blears, Laura Blears Ching and Laura Blears Cody (born December 25, 1950) is an American surfer. Early life On December 25, 1950, Laura was born. Her father was Lord James Blears (died 2016), a professional w ...

became the first woman to compete in the Smirnoff World Pro-Am in 1973. The Encyclopedia of Surfing, Matt Warshaw, p. 548
(accessed 27 April 2011) The Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships were superseded by the

International Professional Surfers The International Professional Surfing (IPS) organization was the original world governing body of professional surfing that existed between 1976 and 1982. The IPS brought together a loose affiliation of surf contests around the world by forming o ...

(IPS).

References

{{Surfing Surfing competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1969