KATIE ARONS, San Clemente
I would like to begin by thanking you for your publication; it is great to still have a local, physical paper to pick up and read each week that is dedicated to our town. As a lifelong San Clementean, I love my hometown and our way of life and relish the childhood we had here.
I miss our local journalistic hero Fred Swegles tremendously and believe that an oversight in a recent story wouldn’t have happened if he was still with us. RIP, Fred.
I am referring to the article “SHACC Exhibit Film Festival to Shine Light on Women Surfers” and the omission of mentioning San Clemente’s own pioneering women surfers Jorja and Jolene Smith, aka The Twins.
The Twins are featured in one of the films of the festival Girls Can’t Surf. They were flown to Australia to be interviewed for the documentary, which credits them for saving the professional women’s circuit in the late 1980s, when the sponsors of the OP Pro planned to eliminate the woman’s portion of the tour but keep the bikini contest.
The Twins wrote to the Los Angeles Times and spurred a large movement, which brought the competition back.
Fred wrote about The Twins many times in the ’80s, as they led our SC High Triton team to state championships and led the professional women’s circuit for many years, including Jorja winning the OP Pro in 1988.
Our town is proud of our twins and the role they played in surfing’s history; perhaps you should do a feature on them. I hope SHACC includes The Twins in their festivities.
Thank you again—keep publishing!
