Rusty Keaulana – Biography

Rusty Keaulana – Biography

Rusty Keaulana was born into surfing royalty as the son of legendary Hawaiian waterman and unofficial “mayor” of Makaha, Richard “Buffalo Keaulana.  Rusty, however, appeared destined to play second fiddle to older brother Brian who had quickly taken on the role of heir to the Makaha lifeguard tower throne. But after an ominous stint running red clay backstreets as a troubled Westside teen and an unfulfilling attempt at the family business, Rusty made it clear that his path would be his own. That path would lead him to 3 consecutive longboarding world titles. And it became apparent the Hawaiian switchfoot would be second to no one.

Rusty Keaulana was born in 1966 on Oahu, Hawaii. He was named after Russ Takaki, a Japanese surfer who, according to Stuart Holmes Coleman, “encouraged Buffalo to join the army.” At the time of Rusty’s birth, the Keaulana family lived in an upstairs apartment above public restrooms located a stone’s throw from Makaha, a world renowned right point that breaks as big and as perfect as any wave can. Makaha holds distinction as the birthplace of modern Hawaiian surfing. Therefore, as a youngster, Rusty literally lived in synch with the rhythm of the ocean and walked in the sandy footprints of surfing’s most famous athletes and characters.

In keeping with family tradition, Rusty began surfing as a toddler. The goofyfooter learned to ride switchfoot in order to master the predominantly right breaking Makaha.  According to Matt Warshaw, “By his teens, he was recognized as one of the island’s best switchfooters…” Seemingly ambidextrous, he could switchfoot so naturally that many surfers couldn’t even discern his true stance.

Out of the water, everything didn’t come so easy for Rusty as he trudged through his teens. While the perfect waves and weather of Hawaii’s Westside would seem a perfect environment for a child to grow up, it sometimes masks a sordid underbelly rife with hard drugs and fierce localism all juxtaposed by images of luaus and smiling beach boys. Thus, Rusty fell in with a rough crowd; and, similar to fellow local surfers Sunny Garcia and Johnny Boy Gomes, he gained a reputation for aggression in and out of the water. But it didn’t take long for him to realize the consequences of such behavior as he saw friends die or hauled to jail. Not content to suffer a similar fate, Rusty decided to become a lifeguard like his father and brother, but the limits of a day job were confining (even a job that entailed being on the beach all day). He quickly bailed the guard tower after 8 months to become a pro surfer.

Rusty had grown up surfing shortboards like most kids on Oahu, but when longboarding rushed back into fashion among young and old alike during a powerful 80’s resurgence, Brian encouraged his younger brother to step up to the bigger boards in attempt to more quickly become the big fish in the tiny pond of professional longboarding.  In the late 80’s, Rusty traveled to Japan to compete in a pro event run by world champion Nat Young. He won the contest and picked up several corporate sponsors along the way.  Rusty now had a career in surfing, prompting the partying practical joker to get serious and train for the upcoming world championship contest.

In 1993, 27 year old Rusty Keaulana competed in the Oxbow World Longboarding Championships, held in meaty, windblown Haleiwa. Although he was perceived as a “progressive” rider (prone to helicopter 360’s and vertical lip hacks), Rusty looked downright traditional in the final against former shortboard pros, Glenn Winton and Rob Bain. Rusty was behind Winton and needed an 8 point ride in the dying minutes to win the event. He picked up an 8.33 just before the horn, sending throngs of Makaha friends and family into a frenzy on the beach. Keaulana had won the Rell Sunn Menehune event some 15 years prior at that same beach, but on this day, the local boy proved himself the best surfer in the world.

The following year at the world contest held at Malibu, Rusty would again rule the day, but this time, controversy would overshadow the celebration. The incident was seen by most as either Hawaiian pride taken to the extreme or worse, bullying in its most pure form; the three Hawaiian finalists, Rusty, Lance Hookano, and Bonga Perkins, effectively blocked Californian surfing prodigy and contest favorite Joel Tudor from catching waves in the final, thus insuring a Hawaiian victor. The Hawaiians offer a different story. As described in Stuart Holmes Coleman’s Fierce Heart: The Story of Makaha and the Soul of Hawaiian Surfing, Bonga Perkins tells of Tudor mouthing off and taunting the Hawaiians, proclaiming, “I make more money than all three of you put together.”  Regardless, that moment alongside another unrelated assault would place an infamous asterisk on Keaulana’s 2^nd world title.

A year later, however, there would be no doubts and no distractions as Rusty and then girlfriend, Sunny Kanaiaupuni, traveled St. Leu on Reunion Island for the World Championship. Rusty won the event convincingly with a blend classic and futuristic longboard surfing in quality surf.  At the height of his powers and at the zenith of his profession, Rusty decided to add one more reason to celebrate as he stepped up to receive his World Championship trophy. He publically asked Sunny, the daughter of legendary Sunset ripper and surfboard shaper Barry “BK” Kanaiaupuni for her hand in marriage. Talk about an eventful day.

With the genes of Buffalo Keaulana, it was inevitable that Rusty would be anything but a waterman, but even his father couldn’t have foreseen 3 world titles. Rusty progressed to big waves as well to place an impressive 5^th in the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau. Seen by most as an affable ambassador of Hawaiian goodwill, Rusty Keaulana has proven himself a formidable competitor and has earned his place among the great Hawaiians that came before him.