Bethany Hamilton

Born: 1990 in Kauai, Hawaii
From: Hawaii
Known for: Comeback to surfing after losing left arm in tiger shark attack

Biography

Bethany Hamilton began surfing at the tender age of 4 years old. Both of her parents taught her to surf by putting her on their boards. When she was 7 years old, she finally did not need to surf with her parents. At 8 years old, Bethany won 1st place in the "push and ride" division of a Quicksilver surfing contest. Her first major surfing competition at the age of eight was the "Rell Sunn Menehune" contest at Makaha. Bethany was in the girls seven to nine longboard, and seven to nine shortboard, took first place in both. In 1999, she won the Haleiwa Menehune Championships. In February 2000, she placed 1st in the "11-under girls", 1st in the "15-under girls," and 2nd in the "12-under girls" division at the Volcom Puffer Fish contest. She picked up a sponsor, Rip Curl, which aided her with her plans of becoming a professional surfer. In 2003, she competed in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) circuit and she placed second in an open event. In 2003, Bethany Hamilton got bit by a shark. She lost about 60% of her blood during this attack but managed to survive. Her survival is due to people she knew acting quickly and preventing the further loss of any blood. When she was able, she got back to surfing without any fear. She figured out how to surf even better with just one arm. She ended up winning an Espy Award for comeback athlete of the year. In 2005, Bethany won 1st place in the NSSA National Championships. In 2008, she started competing full-time on the ASP World Qualifying Series. In her first competition against many of the world's best women surfers, she finished 3rd.

A random fact about Bethany is that her shark attack inspired someone to do a documentary about it and it is called 'Soul Surfer.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_Hamilton

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