Nancy Nelson

Champion surfer Nancy Nelson was born in 1947 in San Clemente, California. Nelson got her first surfboard at age twelve. Nancy placed third in the Makaha International Surfing Championships contest while living with her family in Honolulu, Hawaii for eight months in 1961. Nelson subsequently won the Makaha International Surfing Championships in 1962, 1963, and 1965, placed second in the 1962 West Coast Championships, finished third in the 1963 West Coast Championships, and was a runner-up in both the World Surfing Championships and the United States Surfing Championships in 1965. Moreover, Nancy placed third in both the 1964 and 1965 Surfer Poll Awards as well as placed third in the 1966 International Surfing Hall of Fame Awards right behind fellow champion female surfers Joyce Hoffman and Joey Hamasaki. In addition, Nelson not only later ran a photography business in Hawaii, but also lived in both Montana and Ireland. She died of breast cancer in 2013.