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Eddie aikau death8/12/2023 ![]() ![]() During his career, he was voted 1971 Lifeguard of the Year and managed to save over 500 lives without the aid of modern equipment. After the roving patrol for Waimea Island was disbanded, Aikau was assigned to Waimea Bay, where he continued to save lives. He was given the task of covering all beaches between Sunset and Haleiwa, which he did until 1971. In 1968, Aikau convinced the City & County of Honolulu to select him as their first lifeguard. He Was Appointed As the First Lifeguard of Waimea Bay In 1968 “He’d take off on a big, big scary wave, and he’d be sliding down it with the biggest smile you ever saw. He was instantly embraced by them, and photos of his performance found their way to Life Magazine. In 1967, an unknown Aikau showed up to Waimea Bay and managed to handle thundering forty foot waves alongside celebrity surfers like Greg Noll, Rick Grigg, Felipe Pomar and George Downing. His younger brother Clyde told Surfer Today that he always sought out a way to push himself further. “Eddie was a pretty quiet guy, but when there was a challenge, or some risk to be taken or a game to be played that everybody wanted to win, Eddie seemed to rise to the top,” he recalled. He got a job at the Dole pineapple cannery, where he saved up enough money to buy his first surfboard.Īikau would often surf on the South and North Shore’s of Oahu. His family moved to Oʻahu in 1959, and by the time he turned 16, Aikau had left school. He was the third child of Solomon and Henrietta Aikau, and he learned to surf at Kahului Harbor in Maui. And I'd follow these turtles." Clyde and the Aikau family greeted thousands of fans at Waimea with warm wishes.Happy Birthday to Eddie Aikau (Lifeguard & Surfer) #EddieAikau #Lifeguard #Surfer Google honoured him with a doodle on 73rd birthday on 04-05-2019 About: Ī post shared by Celebrity Born on at 2:04am PDTĪikau was born Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau on May 4, 1946. And just rip it up, come all the way in, and I'd paddle out, and the turtles would be there again. And as soon as I got to that point, the biggest wave of the day would just pull right in, and I'd jump right on it. "And this is where everybody sits down, all five guys, and I would follow the turtles past them, and go deeper than all of them, about a hundred feet out. "So I looked at these two turtles, and I followed them." he told Leslie Cox of PBS during a sit down in 2014. And during the 1986 event, two turtles kept popping up in front of Clyde, guiding him to the perfect takeoff spot after each of his rides. But during his first surf back he noticed a there were suddenly a pair of turtles in the lineup. Angel was one of Waimea's original pioneers, and close friend.Īfter Eddie's 1978 death Clyde was so devastated he didn't surf Waimea for a couple years. ![]() Clyde and Eddie joked about it, figuring it for the late Jose Angel, a legendary North Shore surfer and waterman who had died during a free-diving accident in 1976. Eddie, the story goes, appeared as a sea turtle in the lineup.īut around 1977, the year before Eddie was lost at sea, only one turtle routinely showed up on big days at Waimea. In 1986, when Clyde won the first Eddie Memorial event ever held at Waimea Bay, he told others afterward that his brother led him to victory. WSL / tony heffĬlyde's relationship with The Bay runs deep, too. Clyde earned a huge standing ovation from the throng of adoring fans on hand. To put Thursday's conditions in perspective, as Clyde called the contest ON, he described the waves as the best he'd seen in more than 40 years, harkening back to Waimea's golden era. According to Clyde, that was the day Eddie caught the biggest waves ever ridden. ![]() The pair saved hundreds of lives, and while they also shared many memorable sessions his most vivid is Big Wednesday, November 19, 1967, which he considers the heaviest day ever. He and Eddie began surfing it regularly in the late 60s, and they were both lifeguards there in the 70s, when Waimea Bay was a favorite R&R spot for soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War. The 66-year-old Hawaiian legend made his last Eddie competition a memorable one with his inspiring performance.įor 66-year-old Clyde, this would be his last time competing.Ĭlyde is no stranger to the Bay. ![]()
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