"WORLD CHAMPION ENTERED AT MAKAHA," BY MARTYN CHASE, HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN (1964)

"World Champion Entered at Makaha," by Martyn Chase, ran in the December 16, 1964, edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. This version has been slightly edited.

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When Phyllis O’Donnell first tried to surf five years ago. the beach boys in Australia laughed at her. But today Miss O’Donnell is the holder of the women’s world championship in surfing and is one of the leading contenders in the Makaha International Championships, which open Saturday at Makaha Beach.

Surfing is relatively new to Australia and Miss O’Donnell, a receptionist at a bowling alley, took up the sport only five years ago at the age of 22.

“I had always done a lot of swimming,” Miss O’Donnell said. ‘‘One day my sister’s boyfriend bought a surfboard and he used to leave it at our house near the beach. Well, I started to surf. At first, I wasn’t even interested in trying to stand up. I was quite happy just to kneel on the board.”

At the end of three weeks, Miss O’Donnell was ready to forget about surfing altogether, which, as things turned out, would have been the biggest mistake of her life. “I was bashed and bruised and tired of all the sarcastic comments from the boys on the beach,” Phyllis said. “But I weathered all that somehow.”

The title she won in the first annual World Championships in Australia presents some knotty problems for the Makaha officials who have always regarded their meet as the authentic "world championship" of surfing. But Miss O'Donnell compares the situation to the "beauty contests where you have Miss Universe one place and Miss World somewhere else."

She will spend six weeks here before traveling to Peru for the second annual World Championships. "This is my first trip outside Australia," Phyllis said, "and I still can’t quite believe I’m here. I’ve dreamed of coming to Hawaii to surf for three years."

Her trip is sponsored by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper and a Sydney department store.

Miss O'Donnell, who lives at Ranora Point, 550 miles north of Sydney, hasn't had a chance to surf at Sunset or Makaha Beach yet, but hopes to get out there in the next day or so. “I understand the big waves here can be quite scary,” she said. ‘‘At home, I’ve never ridden any waves bigger than 10 or 12 feet.”

Miss O’Donnell said her chances of winning the world meet in Peru should be better than winning at Makaha. “This type of surfing is new to me,” she explained. “But by the time I go to Peru, I’ll have six weeks of practice here behind me.”