SURFER GIRLS IV. An interview by Paul A. Dolan October 26, 2005 This oral history interview is a project of the Historical Committee of the Outrigger Canoe Club. The legal right to this material remains with the Outrigger Canoe Club. Anyone wishing to reproduce it or quote at length from it should contact the Historical Committee of the Outrigger Canoe Club. * * * * * * * “The reader should be aware that an oral history document portrays information as recalled by the interviewee. Because of the spont- aneous nature of this kind of document, it may contain statements and impressions that are not factual.” Quoted by permission of the University of Hawaii Ethnic Studies Program, Oral History Project. OCC-67-1 SURFER GIRLS IV An interview by Paul A. Dolan October 26, 2005 I am Paul Arthur Dolan, a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club’s Historical Committee. For sometime the Committee has been conducting oral interviews of prominent members of our Club. Today, it is my pleasure to interview Dr. Malia Kiku Pietsch Kamisugi, DDS, MSD, an outstanding athletic member of the Outrigger Canoe Club. This oral history is the last in a series of four interviews of women who surfed from the 1940’s to the present. We are in the Duke Room of the Club on a beautiful Hawaiian day. PAD: Good morning, Malia. MKK: Good morning, Paul. PAD: Let’s start with your family. How did you get here? Where were you born and to whom? MKK: I was born at Kapiolani Hospital on September 26, 1972 to my parents Dr. Arthur Tadao Kamisugi and Lydie (she just goes by “Libbie”, but it’s her middle name) Marion Libbie Kamisugi. My Mom is originally from Chicago and my Dad was born and raised in Wahiawa. His parents were orchid farmers in Wahiawa. He went to Punahou, graduating in 1962 and to Indianapolis, Indiana for school finishing his undergraduate in ’66, dental in ’70, and orthodontics in ‘72. He is an orthodontist in Honolulu. He has been practicing orthodontics in Honolulu since 1972, when I was born. When he returned to Hawaii he was only home on break, still in school. My Mom actually went to Indiana University, also, but they didn’t meet there. He met my mother out surfing He was on a break from school, and she was working on her masters in child psychology at UH, when they met out in the water at Haleiwa. They subsequently moved back to Indiana so he could finish school, where my Mom was a professor at IUPUI {Indiana University/Purdue University at Indiana). They returned to Hawaii when he finished school and my Mom became a realtor. OCC-67-2 They got married in Indiana in June of 1968 and had a local reception at Dot’s in Wahiawa. They had my older brother Todd while my Dad was finishing school in Indiana My older brother is Todd Hazen Kamisugi (Hazen was my grandpa’s name). and my younger brother is Cullen “Cully” Russell Kamisugi, named after Cully Judd. My younger brother is eighteen months younger and my older brother is eighteen months older. My older brother was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. My parents then moved home to Honolulu and my father opened his practice the same year I was born. My Mom does a lot of real estate development and consulting. PAD: That’s outstanding. How about your education? MKK: I went to Punahou, a 13-year club member, kindergarten through 12th grade. I then went off to the University of California at Irvine for a little while and then bumped around colleges. I went to the University of Hawaii-Manoa and back to UC-Irvine and then back to UH-Manoa. I eventually did my dental and orthodontic training at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, finishing my dental in 1998 and my orthodontics in 2000. PAD: You are employed? MKK: I’ve been practicing orthodontics since 2000. I have an office in Kailua and one in town. I share a practice with my Dad in town and I’m by myself in Kailua. PAD: That’s a great career that you are in. How did you get interested in the Club? MKK: I joined when I was twelve years old at the same time as my brothers. A bunch of my friends joined at the same time and we all started paddling. I first paddled in the twelve and under crew. I’ve stuck with it ever since. I just did my fourteenth Molokai to Oahu Wahine O Ke Kai. (laughter) PAD: Fourteen! I did it once (1955) and it took me three days to recover due to only two substitutions. Four of us made it all the way. We also departed OCC-67-3 from Kawakiu Nui Bay, just east of Ilio Point. How about listing the years and how you placed? MKK: For the Na Wahine O Ke Kai they are as follows (that I can recall): Year Place 2005 3rd Place 2004 2nd Place 2003 2nd Place 2002 4th Place 2001 3rd Place 2000 4th Place 1997 4th Place 1996 7th Place 1994 3rd Place 1993 2nd Place 1992 1st Place 1991 3rd Place Other long-distance races I’ve participated in are as follows: Year Catalina Canoe Race Queen Liliuokalani Race (U. S. Championships) (World’s Largest Canoe Race) 2005 (Pokai-4th) 1st-Koa Division 2004 (Pokai-1st) 2nd 2003 2nd 2002 3rd 4th 2001 2nd 2nd 2000 4th 4th 1997 1st (coed) 1994 1st 1st 1993 1st 1st 1992 2nd 1st 1991 2nd PAD: Again, an outstanding achievement. How about volleyball? MKK: I played volleyball in high school. I didn’t play in college. I thought about it, but I was kayaking at the time. PAD: Did you play in tournaments at the Club? OCC-67-4 MKK: No, just regular beach volleyball with my friends. I did compete in the “Daddy Haine” 4-person tournament in 2000 and my team ended up winning. I also competed in the 1993 Jose Cuervo Beach Volleyball Championships and placed 2nd in the coed division. PAD: Commendable! Now you have a number of activities that you do. Can you name a few? MKK: I am very active in paddling. I was on the national team for kayaking for five years in the early 1990’s. Let’s see, I surf, mountain bike, sail, SCUBA and free dive, fish, foil board, wind surf, tow-in surf, anything to do with the ocean, really. PAD: Malia, are you presently married? MKK: I am. I married a year ago on May 1st to Michael Pietsch, Jr. He is also one of the Club “rats” having been around forever. He is Warren Ackerman’s (member #4) God son. PAD: Is Mike involved in Club sports? MKK: Mike has paddled, but not active right now. He is more an avid surfer and fisherman. PAD: So you’re left to do whatever you want? (laughter) MKK: Pretty much. PAD: No kids? MKK: No kids, only four dogs. PAD: Tell us about your kayaking. What events have you entered and the results? MMK: Kayaking was during a really impressionable time in my life and I was able to gain so many great memories and experiences through it. A particularly memorable time was in 1989 at the Junior World Sprints in Nova Scotia, Canada. The “Iron Curtain” was still up at the time and experiencing that was unforgettable—and really inexplicable to younger people who were brought up after the Cold War ended. The KGB kept an OCC-67-5 eye on their people every time they tried to talk to us to make sure they didn’t defect. Really wild! I was a 5-time National Team Member; Netted over 20 gold medals at National competitions, along with numerous silver and bronze; 1991, 1989-on the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival “West” Team member- medaling in numerous divisions; 1991-Pan American Team Member; 1989-“Most Valuable Female Paddler” at National Championships; 1989-U. S. International Kayak Team Member 1988-“Sportmanship Award” at National Championships. In addition, I competed in the following surfski, kayak/one-man canoe: 1994-Kanaka Ikaika Molokai to Oahu Challenge (World Championship) 2nd place; 1998-Molokai to Oahu one-man relay – 1st place. PAD: Bravo! Presently, what is your most avid sport? MKK: We just finished the paddling season, lasting six months of the year, taking up a good amount of time. Now, we’re heading into the big-wave season, which is from November to March. That’s when there are big storms in the North Pacific which sends some monster surf on the North Shore. We actually had our first tow-in session on Sunday (Oct. 23rd) for an early start for the winter season. PAD: What about this foil boarding you do? MKK: In foil boarding you wear snow boots clamped on to a board which is atop of a metal hydrofoil. You’re towed behind a Wave Runner and you’re actually being lifted up (hydroplaned) about 4-feet above the water. We first started doing it as an adjunct to the tow-in surfing as a training method. It’s actually a lot of fun. I can actually surf on a foil although I try to avoid the “white water” as much as possible. It’s a big blade under the water. (I’d be scared of being cut in half if I fell) My goal someday would be to try to ride the waves in the Kaiwi Channel. You can really ride the swells for a long time and it’s just beautiful.