Teen surfer competes in California after shark attack

AP Wire | 06/26/2004 |
Teen surfer competes in California after shark attack

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Bethany Hamilton, the 14-year-old surfer who returned to the waves just months after losing her left arm in a shark attack, doesn't look for special treatment from other surfers and doesn't seem to get any.

Hamilton was in Southern California this weekend to compete at Trestles, one of the region's best-known surfing spots. She advanced Friday to the open semifinals Saturday.

Spectators and competitors applauded each time she rode a wave at the amateur event sponsored by the National Scholastic Surfing Association.

But Hamilton's mother said other surfers don't cut her daughter any slack.

"They don't treat her special," Cherie Hamilton said. "They all want to win. It's very competitive."

Bethany Hamilton, who has surfed since she was 8, was paddling off Kauai's north shore with a friend and the friend's father in October when a 15-foot tiger shark grabbed her arm.

At Trestles, just south of the Orange County line, the Hamilton family directed reporters to talk to Hamilton's agent, Roy Hofstetter, who kept news media away from the teenager because the family had just signed a book deal.

But Bethany Hamilton said in a statement that Trestles is one of her favorite spots.

"Surfing brings me the vibe it's all good," she said.