Around 1905, George Douglas Freeth Jr was the first – or among the first – to reintroduce angling across the wave as opposed to heading straight for shore. In 1907, real estate entrepreneurs Abott Kinney and Henry Huntington were heavily promoting their respective coastal resorts. Kinney had the lead, having dedicated his “Venice of America” (Venice Beach) on July 4, 1905. Henry Huntington, in June 1907, was putting the final touches on his own elaborate beach resort in Redondo Beach. At about that time, 19-year old, hapa-haole, Freeth was riding the waves at Waikiki.
In 1907, Freeth headed for California to ‘give exhibitions of Hawaiian water sports to the people of that section.’ Within six months of his arrival, Freeth was commuting between the two seaside communities performing his surfing act, as well as being a swim instructor/lifeguard. For heroic acts in saving lives of fishers caught in a winter squall on December 16, 1908, a special act of Congress dated June 25, 1910, awarded Freeth the nation’s highest civilian honor: the Congressional Gold Medal.