Oral History 1985
Oral History 2017
Fred Hemmings Jr. was elected to Life Membership in the Outrigger Canoe Club at the Annual Meeting on Feb. 8, 2022. Fred Hemmings Jr. has been a well-known sports personality since his school days at Punahou School as an All-State center-linebacker in football and a surfing champion. He was born on January 9, 1946 in Honolulu and joined the Outrigger Canoe Club on April 19, 1956.
Fred is a member of an athletic family that counts four generations of members in the Outrigger Canoe Club. Fred began his time in the spotlight when he was 12 years old and entered the Makaha International Surfing Championships for the first time, finishing in third place in the Junior Men’s Division. He returned in 1962 and 1963 and won first place each year.
It was 1964 Fred was the first to carry the Outrigger Canoe Club banner to the Peruvian International Surfing Championships in Peru and win an international surfing championship. In 1964 Fred was honored by the Honolulu Quarterback Club as Athlete of the Year following his victories at Makaha and Peruvian International Surfing championships. In 1966 Fred won the Makaha Championship again. And in 1968 he added the World Surfing Championship title to his amazing list of surfing accomplishments. Fred won the coveted Duke Kahanamoku Sportsman Award in 1969 then became the color commentator for ABC’s Wide World of Sports surfing contests in the 1970s. He served as Executive Director of the Smirnoff Pro-Am Surfing Contest in 1970.
Fred was a member of Duke Kahanamoku’s Surf Team and and accompanied Duke on goodwill tours around the world in 1966 and 1967.
Hemmings is considered one of the most successful big wave surfers of all time and had a successful career in professional surfing in the 1960s and 1970s.
Not only was Fred a world-caliber surfer, he was also one of the Club’s top steersmen, paddling on three championship Outrigger Molokai Hoe teams, steering Club teams for 30+ years in regattas and giving steering clinics to the next generation of paddlers. Fred was an incredible Ironman performer for the Outrigger canoe crews, steering and paddling crew after crew to victory. He served as captain of both record-breaking Molokai crews in 1968 and 1975, as well as Club Captain in 1975. He ran a very impressive 3:41:56 time for the OCC Marathon team, won a handful of Club Surfing Championships and was as hard as nails in the rugged touch football league for the OCC.
Fred was elected to the Outrigger’s elite Winged “O” in 1969.
No one doubts Fred’s athletic ability in any sport he has undertaken, but it was not merely his athletic accomplishments that qualified him for Life Membership. Fred has served the OCC throughout the years as a committee member, coach, Club Captain and member of the Board of Directors (1972-1973 and 1975-1976). He was also a Trustee of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation from 1990-1991.
Fred was elected to the International Surfing Hall of Fame in 1991; the Punahou School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994; the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 1999; was listed in the Top 50 Athletes of Hawaii for the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated in 2000; was named the Waterman of the Year by the Surf Industry and Manufacturer Association in 2002; was selected a member of the Surfing “Walk of Fame” in the City of Huntington Beach, California in 2009, and was named to the Waterman Hall of Fame by the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation in 2010.
Fred was the founder and president of International Professional Surfing (1976-1983), founder and producer of the Triple Crown of Surfing (1983-1988), is a lifetime director of the Association of Surfing Professionals (1985-present) and Honorary Lifetime Director of the United States Surfing Federation (1987-Present).
Fred has done much to destroy the myth that gifted athletes are nonproductive out of their sports field. He has met every challenge in athletics, business, politics, community involvement and total dedication to the principles of the Outrigger Canoe Club.
Fred has brought fame and recognition to the Outrigger Canoe Club over the years, not unlike his mentor and friend, the great Duke Kahanamoku. Fred has represented the Outrigger Canoe Club admirably as an athlete, senior statesman and advocate of surfing. For his world-class accomplishments and his service to the Club, we welcome him to Life Membership.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE OCC
Board of Directors
1975 Coordinating Director, Athletics
1976 Coordinating Director, Entertainment
OCC Club Captain
1972
Canoe Racing Committee
1969 Member
1970 Member
1971 Member
1972 Member
Head Coach
1972 Canoe Racing
Surfing Committee
1968 Member
1970 Member
1977 Member
2000 Member
2001 Member
Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation Board of Directors
1990 Member
Surfing Accomplishments
1958 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 3rd, Junior Men
1961 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 1st, Junior Men
1963 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 1st, Junior Men
1964 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 1st, Senior Men
1964 Peruvian International Championships, Lima, Peru, 1st Place
1965 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 2nd, Senior Men
1965 World Surfing Championships, Peru, 5th Place
1966 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 1st, Senior Men
1967 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 2nd, Senior Men
1967 Peruvian International Surfing Championships, 2nd Place
1968 Makaha International Surfing Championships, 2nd, Senior Men
1968 World Surfing Championships, Puerto Rico, 1st Place
1969 Peruvian International Championships, 2nd, Place