Class of 1997
Bob Holland
Sport : Surfing
Robert Lee ÓBobÓ Holland, of Virginia Beach, is the only surfer to win the coveted United States Surfing Championships on all three continental coasts. He won his first U.S. Championship in Huntington Beach, California in 1967 in the senior menŐs division and completed his competition career in 1993 in Oceanside, California by winning the U.S. Championship Senior Grandmaster. During this 26 year span, Bob won the Eastern Surfing Association Championship ten times along with numerous other surfing competitions up and down the east coast from Rhode Island to Florida.
At the request of the Virginia Jaycees, Holland helped to organize the East Coast Surfing Championship (E.C.S.C.) in 1963. His ability to attract big name West Coast surfers helped the E.C.S.C become the oldest and largest surfing competition on the eastern seaboard.
In 1996, Holland was honored as an inductee to the East Coast Surf Legends Hall of Fame adding to his enshrinement in the Eastern Surfing AssociationŐs Hall of Fame, an organization proud to have had Holland serve as head.
Growing up at the shore gave Holland an early venue into surfing, as did having a father, Captain Bob Holland, a harbor pilot, who numbered among the very first surfers on the East Coast. After 35 or so years of surfing, he is an inspiration as well as a living legend to up and coming surfers. His advice is to take care of your mind and body. ŇYou have only a short time to be young and a long time to be old.Ó
Not one to stand still for long, Holland is also well known in the triathlon world in his age group, having been rated in the top 20 in the United States in 1986.