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Benson, Becky

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Bertlemann, Larry

Enduring regularfooter from Pupekea, Hawaii, with a speciality on tandem surfing; four-time winner of the Makaha International. Benson was born (1953) in Japan to a career Army officer father and elementary teach mother, and raised mostly in Texas. She was 14 years old in 1967 when Col. Benson was reassigned and moved his family to Hawaii. "My parents were not typical military parents," Benson later said. "The motto was to get out and enjoy new places, get to know the locals, and get involved in the local way of life. So I don't think we'd even unpacked before Daddy took us to the Greg Noll shop and bought my brother and me surfboards."

At Barbers Point, located on an Army base west of Honolulu, respected local surfer and beachboy Leroy Ah Choy taught Benson to surf solo, and also as a tandem partner. 

Col Benson, meanwhile, bought the first in a series of cameras—still and 16mm—and began photographing not just his family, but the hot local surfers of the period. Benson became something of an adopted little sister to Eddie and Clyde Aikau, who introduced the almost-fearless teenager  to Sunset Beach and big Haleiwa; within a year, she was riding triple-overhead waves. That fall, Benson won the girls division of the  Hawaii Junior Championships. 

Her tandem work with Ah Choy also paid off: less than a year after she'd arrived in Hawaii, the two won the tandem division of the Makaha International Championships. 

One year later, Benson teamed up with 46-year-old tandem vet Bob Moore to again win Makaha. The tiny blonde high school sophomore was now two-for-two at the most prestigious of all tandem competitions. "Like the other top teams, but doing it a little better," the 

, "Moore and Miss Benson did an 'attitude,' a leg and hand stand, a high stag with a split, a swan stand, and 'grass shack,' Moore's own invention." Back with Ah Choy, Benson again won at Makaha in 1971 and 1974—the final year the event was held. 

Benson and Ah Choy also won the 1976 United States Surfing Championships, held at Ala Moana. (Benson and Moore placed 4th in 1970 US Championships.)

In 1971, Benson was chosen to as Queen of the United States Surfing Championships. 

Throughout this period, Benson continued to also surf in non-tandem events, and in 1973 she was runner-up to sister Becky in the Hawaii State Surfing Championships, held at Ala Moana. Future world tour champion Lynne Boyer finished 3rd. 

Because of her big-wave skills, Benson was one of six women picked to surf with the male pros in the 1974 Smirnoff Pro-Am, held on the North Shore. She failed to advance from her prelim heat, which included Peter Townend, Eddie Aikau, Mike Purpus, and Owl Chapman. 

In the mid-'70s, Benson got married, moved to Kauai, started a family and became a teacher. She didn't surf for 28 years. Surprising everybody—possibly even herself—Benson came out of retirement in 2006, partnered with lifeguard-surfer Kalani Vierra, and won the 2007 Tandem World Championships, after competitions in France, Australia, Spain, and Hawaii. Benson was 54 when she won the crown. 

FULL NAME: DATE OF BIRTH: PLACE OF BIRTH:

Blanche Benson Yoshida
July 28, 1953
Tokyo (Made & born in Japan) during parent’s tour of duty there

RAISED IN (INCLUDE YEARS MOVED IN/OUT): Texas was home base. We lived the military life, moving wherever the Army sent us, but we considered Texas home until Dad got stationed in Hawaii in 1967. He bought property & later built a beautiful home up at Pupukea, where we set up permanent roots. He retired in 1973, when he took up surf photography full time. Our dad was a prominent figure on the North Shore surf scene, propelling many surfers into the limelight and advancing their career through photos and films. He retired as a full Colonel in the Army; thus he became known to most people as “Colonel”.

FATHER'S OCCUPATION: Career Army from 1948-1973. Started at age 17 as a tail gunner in WWII. Took off to go to college, then re-enlisted as an officer. Served in 3 wars....WWII, Korea, & Vietnam. Served in many capacities....helicopter pilot, medi-vac pilot during Vietnam, and retired in medical administration from Tripler. Following his military career, he traded in his formal military wear for shorts & slippers, grew out his Army type hairstyle, and spent his days at the beach doing surf photography.

MOTHER'S OCCUPATION: Mom retired as a school teacher. In Hawaii, she taught 4th grade at Wheeler Elementary and hosted many school parties up at our Pupukea home.

BEGAN SURFING IN 1967: My parents were not typical military parents. Their motto was to get out and enjoy new places, get to know the locals, and get involved in the local way of life. So, I don’t think we had even unpacked when Daddy took us down to the Greg Noll surfshop and bought my brother, Guy, and myself surfboards. He said, “If we’re going to live in Hawaii, you’re going to learn to surf”. In addition to buying us boards, he took me to Barber’s Point to meet Leroy AhChoy, whom he met in December 1966 at Makaha when meeting Mom here on R&R from Vietnam. He wanted to ask Leroy to teach me tandem surfing. I was 14. Leroy interviewed me, saying he was looking for a partner for the Makaha International in December 1967. He was very clear. “Do you want to win? I don’t enter unless I plan to win.” Meaning... you gotta be serious & committed. We won 1967 (although technically it was Jan. 1968). The Makaha International sometimes stretched into January. We became the team to beat in Hawaii, winning for 4 out of 5 years.

Our dad took up photography at that time, mostly to capture pictures of us surfing. His passion for surf photography grew quickly and he was soon hosting slideshows at our Schofield home. Before long, we had the entire Aikau Ohana coming, as well as Butch VanArtsdalen, Jock Sutherland, Larry Bertlemann, Michael Ho, Shaun Tomson, Bobby Owens, and many more. Our house became an open-door policy. You never knew who you would find sleeping on the living room floor. Some would come until they could find a place to stay. Others would come so they

could get a ride to the beach in the morning. Even photographers from the mainland would camp out on our floor.

BEGAN SURFING WHERE: Waianae and Barber’s Point

IF YOU WENT TO COLLEGE, LIST YEARS ATTENDED, NAME OF COLLEGE, YEAR GRADUATED, DEGREE:
I attended Leeward Community College, then transferred to UH to complete my degree in 1975. I majored in Education, then later got my master’s in School Counseling and Administration, commuting from Kauai for many of my courses.

MARRIED? (IF SO, FULL NAME OF SPOUSE(S), AND DATE(S) OF MARRIAGE):

I married Robin Yoshida, a Kauai boy, Dec. 28, 1976. We continue to reside on Kauai. WHAT YEAR DIVORCED (IF APPLICIABLE) Not applicable

CHILDREN (IF SO, FULL NAME AND DATE OF BIRTH FOR EACH CHILD):

We have two children and 4 grandsons.
Reiko (Yoshida) Matsuyama 01/05/81 Grandsons: Reid (7), Ryden (3) Kyle Yoshida 03/17/83 Grandsons: Kyler (10), Kylen (7)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CAREER IN SURFING, ACHIEVEMENTS, ETC:

Okay, this is really testing my memory, but thanks to articles and trophies, I think it’s accurate. The Makaha International was always in December, but sometimes it stretched into January, so I used the trophies that indicated which annual event it was. I surfed most events in both the women’s category and tandem, if tandem was offered.

Blanche’s Tandem Accomplishments:
1967 Makaha International Tandem 1st place with Leroy AhChoy (held Jan. 1968)
1968 Makaha International Tandem 1st place with Leroy AhChoy
1969 Makaha International Tandem 1st place with Bob Moore (Leroy’s good friend & the person who taught Leroy to tandem surf)
1969 US Championships Huntington Tandem 2nd place with Leroy AhChoy
1970 Makaha International Tandem 1st place with Leroy AhChoy
1970 US Championships Huntington Tandem 2nd place with Leroy AhChoy
1971 Makaha International Tandem 2nd place with Leroy AhChoy
1972 Makaha International Tandem 1st place with Leroy AhChoy
2007 World Tandem Surfing Champions - Blanche Yoshida & Kalani Vierra

Blanche’s Individual Surfing Accomplishments:

Junior Surf Meet 1st place Girl’s Division
Hawaii High School Surf Meet - 1st place Girl’s Division Haleiwa Surf Meet - 1st Place Women’s Division

1971 I was selected as Queen of the US Open of Surfing in Huntington

From 1969-1972, I made it to the finals for all Hawaii Surfing Association (HSA) Meets, and was invited to surf in the US Championships Women’s division at Huntington from 1969 to 1972. Professional surfing did not yet exist.

I was one of the females invited to surf in the first Smirnoff Pro at Sunset, where girls were included. Not sure what year that was (1973 or 1974?) My guess was they just wanted to see if the women could handle. I’m amazed at how far Women’s surfing has progressed since then. I feel honored to have been one of the pioneers.

I moved to Kauai in 1975 where I continued to surf for fun until kids & career took priority. Married in 1976 & began a career in education, spanning 30 years. I completely quit surfing for almost 28 years.

I got back into the water tandem surfing again. There seemed to be a revival of the sport, worldwide. I was determined to try it again, so started asking people I knew in the surf community if they knew anyone on Kauai who might want to do tandem surfing. The same name came up several times, so I set out on a mission to get myself in shape first, then meet & ask this guy. It was October 2006 at a surf function, and I got introduced to Kalani Vierra for the first time. He already had heard secretly via my husband, who wanted to give Kalani the heads up so he could let me down gently. We were all surprised when Kalani said he’s been waiting for me to contact him, had a board, and was ready. We started practicing that week.

Kalani is a true competitor, reminding me a lot of Leroy AhChoy. Serious about doing well and wanting to win. My intent was just to catch a few waves and do a few stunts. Instead, we trained hard. I taught him whatever moves I could remember, and we entered our first competition at Makaha. We came in 2nd, because we didn’t hold each maneuver the required 3 seconds. Otherwise, we were told we would have clenched the win. The excitement of competition for both Kalani & me was sparked and the rest is history. We entered the World Tandem scene, traveling to France, Australia, Maui, Oahu, & Spain, and won the World Title in 2007. I was 54. Kalani continued tandem surfing, and won several more World Titles. He is a true waterman, and has helped perpetuate the sport of tandem surfing ever since. I am forever grateful that Kalani wanted to learn, and provided me the opportunity to tandem surf again....and WIN! Wow!! From my first win with Leroy (winter 1967) to my last big win with Kalani (2007) was a span of 40 years. Something to be proud of, for sure.

After my whirlwind year of tandeming with Kalani, I decided to get myself back out surfing. I bought a board and have been enjoying being back in the ocean solo surfing since then. I was recently paddling for a wave, and I hear, “Go Grandma, Go”. I chuckle to myself, and feel so proud to be out there. I get no breaks though, especially from the young girls in the lineup. I’m probably 3 times older than they are, guaranteed older than their mothers’ and riding a board at least 2 feet smaller....but no mercy for this “grandma”. Oh well, gone are the days when I was the only girl in the water.

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