Mary Lou McGinnis-Drummy
Editors note: Mary Lou Drummy will be inducted into the Hunting Beach Surfing Walk of fame on July 28, 2016.
Mary Lou McGinnis-Drummy grew up in Chatsworh, California. She learned to surf in Hermosa Beach where her family had a beach home when she would visit in the summer and spring. After watching people surf from the beach house, she finally received a 9”6” Velzy Jacobs balsa surfboard for Christmas and learned to surf herself.
In her teens her mother would take her to Malibu to surf. When she got her own car she traveled to Malibu and Rincon on a regular basis. In the late 50s early 60’ she joined the Malibu Surfing Association. She competed in local club contests and the U.S. Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach. In 1965 Mary Lou placed fifth along with Joyce Hoffman. Continuing on her competition platform, Mary Lou placed third in the Malibu Invitational, and first in the Santa Monica Open, where she was voted the outstanding woman surfer of the contest and defeated Margo Oberg. Mary Lou continued to compete until the 70s when she retired from competition and went into the running of surfing events full time.
During the 60s Mary Lou became an extra in Hollywood films including beach movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and Banning with Robert Wagner. She doubled for Sharon Tate surfing and parachute stunts in the 1967 beach movie Don’t Make Waves with Tony Curtis. She was the first woman to star in a feature surf film, Follow Me, traveling to Morocco, Spain and India with Claudie Codgen and Bob Purvey.
An advocate for women’s surfing, Mary Lou along with Jericho Poppler, Mary Setterholm and Shannon Aikman co-founded the Women’s International Surfing Association (W.I.S.A.) She was voted W.I.S.A’s first president. Mary Lou ran W.I.S.A in in various capacities until 1993 when for waining membership W.I.S.A merged with the Western Surfing Association. From W.I.S.A. she was voted to run the U.S.S.F Western Region competition series. In 2004 the U.S.S.F.W.R reverted back to the Western Surfing Association’s (WSA) name, in which she is the now the Executive Director. Mary Lou also ran the Wahine Series, for women only competition seres and in 1991 co-founded the Endless Summer Surf Camp which is run by Jason Senn.
Mary Lou has raised 4 children, three of which became competitive surfers. You can find Mary Lou on the beach at San Onofre or once a month under the tent running the WSA events.
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