Katin Throwback

Today's Thursday Katin Throwback is dedicated to Mrs. Nancy Katin and "her boys" as she called them! This #TBT photo features Nancy and legendary surfers, Mark Richards, Mike Ho and Hans Hedemann. 

In 1976, just as professional surfing was starting to take off, Nancy initiated an annual Katin PRO/AM Team Challenge, a camaraderie-driven team event, boasting a rich and memorable history, with a roster of winners that included world champions Shaun Tomson, Tom Curren, Martin Potter, Sunny Garcia and Kelly Slater.

In its early days, the Katin Team Challenge was a specialty event that lured the world’s elite surfers, from Mark Richards, and Mark Occhilupo to Joey Buran, Michael Ho and Larry Bertlemann, among others. Fulfilling Nancy’s dream, the event drew talented, young kids from surf towns in California, Hawaii and Florida to compete alongside their heroes. Some of these up-and-coming surfers, such as Kelly Slater, Shane Beschen, Rob Machado, Pat O’Connell, Chris Brown, Peter Mel and many more, would go on to have standout careers after their time competing at the legendary PRO/AM. The Katin Team Challenge ran uninterrupted from 1977 to 1989, then again from 1992 to 1998 and 2009-2012.