honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame will enshrine four on Feb. 24

Advertiser Staff

Surfing champions Lynne Boyer and Gerry Lopez head the latest group of selections to the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame.

They are joined for the 2009 induction class by taekwondo master Dae Sung Lee and veteran boxing coach Albert Silva.

Their selection will bring to 110 the number of athletes, coaches, pioneers and contributors enshrined since the hall was created in 1997.

Induction ceremonies will be Feb. 24 at the Honolulu Country Club.

Boyer, a Kailua High graduate and fearless big wave rider, was the World Surfing Champion in 1978 and '79.

Earlier this year, Boyer was honored with a place on the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Surfing Walk of Fame. She joined two other Hawai'i surfing greats, Margo Oberg and Rell Sunn, who are also Hawai'i Hall of Fame inductees.

Lopez was the 1972 and '73 Banzai Pipeline champion, helping elevate the event and build a world reputation.

Lopez, a Punahou School graduate, was a co-founder of Lightning Bolt Surfboards and earned a place on the Huntington Beach Walk of Fame in 2000.

Lee is a nine-time U.S. National Champion (1979-87) in the Korean martial art of taekwondo and has earned medals in the World Taekwondo Championships World Games and Pan American Games.

Lee, a Moanalua High graduate, coached the U.S. Olympic team in 1992 and from 1988-93 was trainer at the Olympic Training Center.

Silva, 91, has been involved in local boxing for more than 70 years, most of it in Waipahu where he has instructed biddyboxers to world champions. His students include world champions Andy Ganigan, Jesus Salud and Brian Viloria. Salud and Ganigan are members of the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame.

Nominations for the 2010 induction class of the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame may be made online through http://www.hawaiisportshalloffame.com.