Posted by geoa on August 07, 2001 at 07:06:54:
In Reply to: Waterman??? posted by Calico Jack on August 06, 2001 at 18:11:53:
The first time I heard the term, it was used to describe the tough hombres that surfed Waimeia at its biggest. These guys had to, naturally, be great swimmers as well as be knowledgable about ocean conditions in general. The term came into popularity in the mid 1970's in SURFER magazine to be used as a term of respect for guys like Nat Young Ken Bradshaw Rabbit Kekai Owl Chapman Big Ben Ohana and a few others. Waterman is used to describe someone thats tough and can do many things in the ocean like second nature. He may surf Waimeia at 30 ft in the morning and spend the afternoon freediving to 100 ft for his lunch.
Current Watermen? Sure..North Shore Lifeguards.