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 George Freeth
This Irish-Hawaiian whose aquatic exploits are now become legend, is reputedly the first man ever to ride a surfboard on the California coast.
He was brought to Redondo Beach from Waikiki early in the spring of 1907, by the owners of the Redondo-Los Angeles Railway, to create an outstanding aquatic attraction in the Southern California area.
This he did with a zest by introducing water basketball, water polo, surfboarding and all manner of swimming and diving events of his own devising. He became the first lifeguard on the Pacific Coast and he trained more world’s champion swimmers, divers, etc., than any other man of his time.
 His swimming prowess may well be told in two incidents.
Having captured a sea lion pup, simply by swimming underneath and of a sudden boosting it up into a dory manned by “Lou” Martin, he later turned the youngster loose in the cold water tank of the Redondo Plunge and then to the glee of the spectators, swam until he recaptured it.
Of a more serious nature was his adventure during the great Santa Monica Bay storm of December 16th, 1908, when single-handed he swam three freezing trips out through mountainous, foaming seas to rescue seven Japanese fishermen who were being swept out to certain death in their small fishing boats. For this feat he received the Carnegie Medal for Bravery and the Congressional Medal of Honor, and in addition the populace of the fishing village near Port Angeles named their town “Freeth” in his honor.
 Freeth’s contribution to modern surfboarding came in 1900, at Waikiki, when he restored the lost art of standing up while riding. The board on which he accomplished this was a solid, heavy, sixteen footer given to him by his uncle, a Hawaiian Prince. It is now a treasured item in the Bishop Museum at Honolulu.
George Freeth, master of the wave, and to whose heroic efforts at least 78 persons owe their lives, died in San Diego, April 7th, 1919, at the age of 35. His death, coming in the prime of life, was the ultimate result of overtaxation sustained through rescue work at Oceanside.
Too little is known about a great and colorful figure in California’s aquatic history.
— from California Surfriders 1946: A Scrapbook of Surfriding and Beach Stuff by Doc Ball
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