A Successful 60's - 80's Surfer


A 70's - 90's Speaker, Mentor, and Professional Surfer Coach

List of Dr. Bruce "Snake" Gabrielson's
Surfing Affiliations and Accomplishments

  • 1960s-1980s WEST COAST SURFER
  • Semi-sponsored by Surfboard's Hawaii and Local Team Member During Longboard Era (mid 1960s)
  • President, South Sea Surf Club (1966-1967)
  • President, Huntington Beach Surfing Association (1967-1977)
  • Designer and Surf Team Member, Soul Surfboards (where Dale Velzy taught me to shape)
  • Surf Team Member, Petrillo Surfboards
  • Surf Team Member, Walden Surfboards
  • Shaper, Designer, Glasser and Owner, Wave Trek Surfboards
  • District 5 Director, Western Surfing Association (WSA)
  • Competition Rules Committee Chairman, WSA and USSA
  • #3 Competition Ranking, WSA and US
  • 3rd Place, United States Surfboard Championships (USSA)
  • Board of Directors, United States Surfboard Championships
  • Contest Director, United States Surfboard Championships (I'm the person telling Corky Carroll that I didn't make the rules in the movie 5-Summer Stories)
  • Judge, United States Surfboard Championships (and many other events)
  • Founding Member, Western Intercollegiate Surfing Council (First US College Surfing Organization)
  • Co-founder, Coach, and Captain, Cal. State University Long Beach Surf Club
  • Author of petition to CIF for formal recognition of surfing as a HS sport
  • Founder, Edison High School Surf Club
  • Founder and First Varsity Coach, Huntington Beach High School Surf Team (First US HS to Formally Recognize Surfing as a Varsity Sport)
  • Founder, Orange Coast Surfing League/Sunset League (First Official High School Surfing League in US - Recognized by CIF)
  • Author, The Complete Surfing Guide for Coaches
  • Surfing Editor, The Huntington Beach News
  • Surfing Editor, Orange County Daily Pilot Newspaper
  • Founder and First Contest Director, Huntington Beach Residents Contest
  • 1980s-2000s EAST COAST SURFER
  • Member, Eastern Surfing Association, Maryland District
  • Member, Eastern Surfing Association, Delaware District
  • Delaware ESA State Champion
  • Inventor, Gabrielson Break, Continuously moving artificial wave for pools
  • Surf Team Member, Sundancer Surfboards
  • Surfing Chairman, Potomac Valley Association, AAU (1985-1987)
  • Directed the First AAU Sanctioned Surfing Event in US (1985)
  • Surfing Contest Director, Capital Games (DC State Games)
  • National Surfing Committee, Amateur Athletic Union
  • Established the Internet's First Surfing Oriented Web Site (1993)
  • Placed the First Book (The Complete Surfing Guide for Coaches) of any Subject on the Internet (1994)
  • Established the Internet's First On-line Surfing Reference Library
  • Life Member (one of first ten), International Surfing Museum
  • Member, Greg Noll "Da Bull" Surf Team
  • Member, Washington DC Chapter, Surfrider Foundation
  • Member, Big Stick Surf Club
  • Member, 62nd St. Longboarders Club, Ocean City, MD
  • Member, "Ironman" Surfing/Wrestling Hall-of-Fame
  • Co-Organizer, Delaware's First High School Surfing Competitions
  • Award Winner, 1999 Paddle-Out Award, Washington DC Surfrider
  • 3rd Place, US Surfboard Championships
  • 6th Place, ESA Eastern Surfing Championships
  • 4th & 6th Place, East Coast Surf Championships
  • Chairman, USSF Sports Science Committee
  • Chairman, USSF USOC Recognition Committee
  • Primary Author, Formal USOC Application by USSF for Surfing to Become an Olympic Sport
  • Surf Team Member, Robert Strickland Surfboards
  • Surf Team Member, New Jersey Surf
  • Lifetime Member, Huntington Beach Longboard Crew Hall-of-Fame
  • Founder and Owner, Snake's Surf School
  • Co-Founder, Annapolis Surf Club, MD
  • East Coast Team Manager - Turbo Tunnel Performance Team
  • Founder and Chairman, National Surf Schools and Instructors Association
  • Surf Book Author - Teaching Surf instructors to Teach
  • Active contributor to surfing related research studies around the world
Still hanging in after 40 years on a surfboard.


Indian River Inlet - September 1999

Mentor and Coach of Many Professional and Successful Surfers Over the Years

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