All three of the newly minted Surfers’ Hall of Fame inductees who put their hands and feet into cement Friday, Aug. 1, have made their marks in the surf world.
The aloha-style celebration honored Dwight Dunn, a longtime fixture in the Huntington Beach surf scene who has helped launch some of the industry’s biggest brands; Caroline Marks, who at 23 years old has a world championship and Olympic gold medal among her many accolades; and renowned surf photographer Tom Servais, who spent his career documenting the world’s greatest surfers.
“This place becomes more special every month and every year that goes by,” said Hall of Fame founder Aaron Pai. “After we are all gone, our kids and their kids will be able to come here and experience a little slice of surf culture from years past.”
The Huntington Surf & Sport owner created the event 28 years ago as a way to honor influential surfers who have made an impact locally and around the world. It is hosted each year during the US Open of Surfing — during Friday’s ceremony, the second day heats of the Challenger Series portion of the event were unfolding at the pier just across Pacific Coast Highway.
First to put his hands and feet into cement was Servais, a Florida surfer who followed the waves to California at a young age. He soon got a job at Surfer Magazine, launching a successful career with the help of mentors Art Brewer and Jeff Divine — his visual storytelling helping define an era.
“He’s been on some of the most iconic trips,” said event emcee Brett Simpson, a two-time US Open of Surfing champion, long-time tour pro and coach. “It’s just been an honor to get to know you through trips and traveling. You’ve done so much for the surfers, to put them in these magazines.”
Servais said he was grateful for the award, but also a little surprised.
“I’m getting an award for taking pictures and traveling the world on someone else’s dime,” he said with a smile.
He gave thanks to Surfer Magazine founder John Severson and mentors like Brewer, Divine and former boss Steve Pezman.
“So many other people I’d like to thank, the surfers who trusted me, my friends I made around the world, my personal friends, my photographer friends – I suspect you all know who you are,” he said. “I didn’t do this alone, that’s for sure.”
Industry leader Bob Hurley said he has a photo Servais took of three-time world champion Tom Curren – one of only a few surf shots he has hanging in his home.
“He’s inspired companies to start, inspired surfers to go beyond where they thought they could,” Hurley said. “It might be the best picture I’ve ever seen.”
Dunn, a beloved hometown fixture, drew a big crowd that roared as the spotlight turned to him.
Hurley also spoke about Dunn and how he is a “mad man” who used to charge the northside of the pier on big days, without a leash, and would hit the lip right next to the pier pilings.
Dunn also helped Hurley in those early years when he started out as a Huntington Beach shaper, fixing his bookkeeping to get out of debt with glassers and blank manufacturers, even getting his account up to $800, Hurley said.
“Don’t blow it,” Dunn told Hurley.
Hurley would later bring Dunn on as an exec when he launched Billabong in the United States, and again when he created the Hurley brand.
Wife Audrey Dunn talked about when they first met in 1978, back when she owned a small bikini shop just down Main Street.
“We’ve had such a journey with everyone, this whole surfing community,” she said. “Just seeing everyone here is amazing… I call it his lifetime achievement award. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Dunn talked about his earlier years in the ’60s, working at the Huntington Beach surf shops and later with the biggest brands in the industry.
“I idolized the surf world, and now I’ve just been inducted, cemented, into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame,” he said after writing the words “see you in the water” in cement. “A lot has changed to the surf apparel brands, but to all my team members who are here, we should all be proud for what we built together.
“I’m incredibly proud it became part of my story,” he added, “that I was able to make an impact on the surf community and that’s become the biggest part in a rewarding chapter of my life.”
Marks was the final inductee to get cement on her hands and feet, Simpson talking about being her coach at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She came just short of the podium there, but three years later earned the gold at Tahiti.
“That’s as hard as it gets,” Simpson said. “She deserved it more than anyone.”
The Florida transplant who now lives in San Clemente set the bar for women’s surfing, qualifying for the World Tour at age 15, still the youngest ever to do so, Simpson said, and earning a world title just a few years ago.
Coach Mike Parsons talked about first seeing Marks when she was about 13 at the USA Surfing national championships at Lower Trestles.
“She had this unique style that blew the competition away, she won every division,” he said. “It was her style on a wave, she had this beautiful flow to her surfing with an incredible amount of power.”
What makes her unique is her true love for the sport, the smile that spreads across her face as she’s paddling for a wave or just hanging out between heats during contests, he said.
“I think that’s really what sets her apart, the real joy for surfing,” Parsons said. “That passion for sport has served her so well. … We are really sitting in the presence of greatness, at just 23 years old.”
Marks said she was stoked to be recognized in the Hall of Fame and talked about how surfing has changed her life — giving her purpose, joy and discipline.
“The deep connection to nature and people all around the world, I’ll forever be grateful for this sport,” she said. “To be recognized among so many amazing surfers who I have looked up to my entire life is incredibly humbling. I’m so proud to be a part of this community and now to be part of this history.”
She thanked her family, who pushed her in the water and in life, as well as her coach and sponsors.
“You have all been in my corner and I wouldn’t be here without you,” she said. “Winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one of the greatest moments of my life, but this – being recognized by people who live and breathe this sport – means the world to me.”