Debbie Beacham
What Champions Are Made Of
In 1980 during a warm-up session at Haleiwa, Debbie Beacham dropped into a 12-foot wave-face, and took a hard wipeout, cracking one of her ribs. Determined not to be sidelined by something as frivolous as broken bones, she had surf-guru sports physician Dr. Greg Mattson tape her up, and three hours later, paddled out into 15-foot Sunset for the Offshore Masters surf event. On her third wave her board snapped in two. She swam the 100 yards to the beach to retrieve another board and continue, but (mercifully) the heat clock ran out.
If that gives the impression that Debbie Melville Beacham is a character of quality and unwavering determination, it would be dead-on accurate.
