Whitey Harrison

Lorrin Carrell Whitey Harrison was an American surfer, lifeguard, surf equipment innovator and commercial diver, born on April 24, 1913, who died on September 8, 1993. Born to parents from Garden Cove, California, he credited his interest in surfing to a 1920 trip to Redondo Beach, began stand-up surfing in 1925 at Corona del Mar, and in 1934 stowed away to Hawaii, where he worked as a beach boy among surfers including Duke Kahanamoku. He championed outrigger canoeing in Southern California, and his outrigger canoe was christened at San Onofre in 1937. On July 9, 1939, he won the seventh Pacific Coast Surf Riding Championships at San Onofre, making him the top surfer in California. He experimented with fins and later polyurethane foam to lighten wooden boards, and he created the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club, which held its first competition in 1959.