Who was the first Australian woman surfer? Credit is generally given to Freshwater's Isabel Letham, who was introduced to the sport by Duke Kahanamoku, when the great Hawaiian visited Australia in the summer of 1914-15, and who persisted with the sport for many years after. But Kahanamoku showed other local girls the trick on the same tour, among them a young Manly girl named Isma Amor. Not only that, it appears Miss Amor had been surfing well before the Duke’s visit.
Isma Amor was born in 1898. Her father owned a thriving business engraving medals, and the family lived at well-to-do Addison Road, Manly. From a young age she was a keen swimmer.
Reg Harris, in his 1959 history of Manly Surf Life Saving Club, Heroes of the Surf states: “In the 1912-13 season a number of Manly L S club members decided to persevere and master the art [of surfing]. They included Jack Reynolds and Norman Roberts, Geoff Wyld, Tom Walker, a 13-year old boy named Claude West... and an outstanding woman surfer, Miss Esma [sic] Amor”[1] (at which time she would have been 14 or 15 years old). The evidence is that surfing was established at Manly by 1912, and it would have been surprising if some of the bolder girls had not given it a try.
A press article from 1918 states: “When Duke Kahanamoku visited Australia two years ago [sic] he introduced the exciting sport of surfing on a plank, and among those he initiated into this trick was Miss Amor. The young swimmer represented NSW in a carnival in Brisbane several years ago, and was schools champion of NSW two years in succession.”[2] The article notes that Miss Amor was in Melbourne accompanying the NSW Ladies’ team to compete in the National Ladies Swimming Championships.
In 1920, she married Angus MacPhillamy, who had been a Flight-Lieutenant in WWI, and had been severely injured in a crash in 1917. Their son Owen was born in 1922. The family later moved to Forbes, NSW, where Mr MacPhillamy was able to fly his own plane over the family property. Isma’s swimming and surfing career came to an end after her marriage.
She died in 1985.
Isma Amor was born in 1898. Her father owned a thriving business engraving medals, and the family lived at well-to-do Addison Road, Manly. From a young age she was a keen swimmer.
Reg Harris, in his 1959 history of Manly Surf Life Saving Club, Heroes of the Surf states: “In the 1912-13 season a number of Manly L S club members decided to persevere and master the art [of surfing]. They included Jack Reynolds and Norman Roberts, Geoff Wyld, Tom Walker, a 13-year old boy named Claude West... and an outstanding woman surfer, Miss Esma [sic] Amor”[1] (at which time she would have been 14 or 15 years old). The evidence is that surfing was established at Manly by 1912, and it would have been surprising if some of the bolder girls had not given it a try.
A press article from 1918 states: “When Duke Kahanamoku visited Australia two years ago [sic] he introduced the exciting sport of surfing on a plank, and among those he initiated into this trick was Miss Amor. The young swimmer represented NSW in a carnival in Brisbane several years ago, and was schools champion of NSW two years in succession.”[2] The article notes that Miss Amor was in Melbourne accompanying the NSW Ladies’ team to compete in the National Ladies Swimming Championships.
In 1920, she married Angus MacPhillamy, who had been a Flight-Lieutenant in WWI, and had been severely injured in a crash in 1917. Their son Owen was born in 1922. The family later moved to Forbes, NSW, where Mr MacPhillamy was able to fly his own plane over the family property. Isma’s swimming and surfing career came to an end after her marriage.
She died in 1985.
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