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Remember Tom Blake

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Remember Tom Blake
www.remembertomblake.com
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  • Remember Tom Blake

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A legendary surfing pioneer, Tom Blake’s contributions to the sport live among us to this day. From the invention of the surfboard fin and the development of the first lightweight board, to his chronicles of the early days of the sport through writing and photography, Blake stood tall as one of the most storied watermen of surfing’s modern era.

This site was created to raise of awareness of Blake’s accomplishments and to serve as a reminder of how his innovations shaped surfing as we know it. If you are a surfer (or if you simply appreciate the sport itself) this page accepts donations to fund a memorial statue/historical marker for Blake. The statue will be donated to Blake’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for installation along the lakefront.

Blake’s first taste of surfing came in 1920, when he met the iconic Hawaiian surfer and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku in the lobby of a Detroit movie theater. To this day, there have only been two men in history inducted into both the Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Surfing Hall of Fame: Tom Blake and Duke Kahanamoku. While Duke’s legacy is memorialized through a statue on the shores of Waikiki, Blake is little known outside of the surfing world.

Please consider a donation to help honor Blake and his contributions to the sport. All donations are tax-deductible (click "Support this Artist" on top-right of this page).