Bethany Hamilton

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Bethany Hamilton, March 2007

Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990 in Kaua'i , Hawaii ) is an American professional surfer who lost her left arm in 2003 in an attack by a tiger shark .

Life

Hamilton learned to surf from her parents, who were keen surfers who moved from mainland America to Hawaii before she was born. At the age of five, she won first place in the Quiksilver Push and Ride competition. When she won the “Rell Sunn Menehune” in 1998, she won her first major competition. At the “Rell Sunn”, girls between the ages of six and nine compete against each other in long and shortboard classes on the island of Oahu . In order to get closer to her dream of a career as a professional surfer, Hamilton took part in the 23rd Haleiwa Menehune Championships in 1999 and achieved first place. In February 2000 she won the Volcom Pufferfish in the class of girls under eleven and under fifteen years of competition. Then Rip Curl became aware of Hamilton, which was then part of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA), and is its sponsor to this day .

On October 31, 2003, Hamilton went surfing on Tunnels Beach , Kauai, early in the morning . At around 6:40 a.m., she was attacked by a tiger shark about three meters tall, lying on her surfboard . The shark severed her left arm just below the shoulder. Her friends, with whom she was out on the water, including surfer Alana Blanchard , helped her paddle back to the beach. They used their leashes to tie off the stump of her arm and thus saved her life.

Hamilton started training again just four weeks after the incident. To enable surfing with just one arm, she uses tailor-made boards with a handle. Since 2004, Hamilton has been participating in competitions again.

Hamilton is a devout Christian and wrote the book Soul Surfer in 2004 , in which she also looks at the experiences of the shark attack from the perspective of her faith.

In 2004 she won the ESPY Award for the best athlete comeback of the year and a special prize at the Teen Choice Awards for her courage .

In 2005 she achieved 1st place in the NSSA National Championships . She has been surfing the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) as a full-time professional since 2008 . In her first competition, she came third.

After her convalescence , Hamilton appeared on 20/20 , Good Morning America , the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Tonight Show, among others .

On August 18, 2013, Bethany Hamilton married Adam Dirks in Hawaii . Their first son Tobias was born in June 2015, the second son Wesley was born in March 2018.

successes

Placements in surf competitions
year Competition placement country
1998 Rell Sun Menehune 1. United StatesUnited States United States
2002 Open Women's Division of the NSSA 1. United StatesUnited States United States
2004 NSSA National Competition 5. United StatesUnited States United States
2005 NSSA National Competition 1. United StatesUnited States United States
2005 O'Neill Island Girl Junior Pro tournament 1. United StatesUnited States United States
2006 NSSA National Championship: 18-and-under finalist 5. United StatesUnited States United States
2006 Hawaii team highlights 4.
5. *		 United StatesUnited States United States
2007 NSSA Regionals 5. United StatesUnited States United States
2007 Women's Pipeline Championship 4th United StatesUnited States United States
2008 US Open of Surfing - Huntington Beach, California 5. United StatesUnited States United States
2008 Roxy Pro Surf Festival - Phillip Island 3. AustraliaAustralia Australia
2009 Rio Surf International in Rio de Janeiro 3. BrazilBrazil Brazil
2009 Billabong ASP World Junior Championship 2. AustraliaAustralia Australia
2014 Women's Pipeline Championship 1. United StatesUnited States United States

* 4. in the Brazilian competition, 5th in the World Games in the USA.

Film adaptations

In 2007, the documentary Heart of a Soul Surfer , which she describes as a "faith-based documentary", described her life story. The film also describes her desire to give the attack a spiritual meaning and purpose.

In 2011 her life story was filmed under the title Soul Surfer with AnnaSophia Robb , Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid in the leading roles. It opened in theaters in the US on April 8, 2011. In 2018, her full story came out as the film Unstoppable .

Publications

  • Bethany Hamilton, Doris Rikkers: Soul Surfer. The devotional book . Brunnen-Verlag, Giessen 2007, ISBN 978-3-7655-1969-7 .
  • Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, Rick Bundschuh: Soul Surfer. She didn't give up and won. A true story . 10th edition. Brunnen-Verlag, Giessen 2014, ISBN 978-3-7655-1197-4 .
  • Bethany Hamilton, Dustin Dillberg: Body & Soul. Healthy body, strong belief . Brunnen-Verlag, Giessen 2015, ISBN 978-3-7655-5239-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rell Sunn
  2. ^ National Scholastic Surfing Association
  3. ↑ Bethany Hamilton ( Memento July 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), Rip Curl USA
  4. ↑ One-armed surfer from Hawaii: Bethany Hamilton became a mother. In: Spiegel Online . June 16, 2015, accessed June 16, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Gerhard Pfeil: From the depths of the ocean . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 2010 ( online ).
  6. ↑ Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, Rick Bundschuh: Soul Surfer. She didn't give up and won . Brunnen-Verlag, Giessen 2006, ISBN 3-7655-1928-6 .
  7. ↑ 2004 ESPY Awards: Best Comeback , ESPN.com
  8. ↑ Official Wedding , People , August 21, 2013.
  9. ↑ Today (Austrian newspaper) : Hai bites off arm: US athlete continues surfing! , online August 27, 2019: [1] , accessed March 6, 2019
  10. ↑ Heart of a Soul Surfer , Walking on Water
  11. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596346/ , accessed on April 2, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Hamilton, Bethany
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hamilton, Bethany Meilani (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American surfer
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH Kauaʻi , Hawaii, United States