Surfing’s Ambassador Going Strong at 78
From his cramped kitchen that doubles as an office, Bruce Hopping is burning the midnight oil, pounding out yet another nightly blitz of faxes. Destinations: Rio de Janeiro, Morocco and Greece.
“Nighttime is the only time I get to reach people in other countries because of the time differences,” Hopping said, “so I rise every day about 10:30 in the morning and I don’t get to bed till 3 a.m.”
His habits are those of an investment banker. But portfolios are not his interest. Hopping is Orange County’s surfing ambassador. He has spent more than two decades as an organizer of international surfing contests and has helped introduce that sport to Third World countries.
On a recent evening, Hopping sent dispatches first to Brazil for an upcoming cultural exchange with U.S. surfers and Brazilians scheduled for May, then to Morocco, thanking the government for its help during a visit in December, and then Greece, where Hopping is sponsoring a trip in August for an all-star water polo team from Orange County.
At 78, you would think he would slow down. But he hasn’t.
In 1993, Hopping accompanied U.S. amateur surf teams that visited Tahiti, Bali, Barbados and Morocco. In addition, he scouted surfing venues in Western Samoa and visited Florida’s International Swimming Hall of Fame, where he sits on the hall’s board of trustees.
The son of a wealthy New Jersey family, Hopping was vice president of his father’s lumber company and transferred a portion of its assets into the Kalos Kagathos Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization he formed in 1953. Kalos Kagathos translates from Greek to “physical distinction, nobility of mind.”
“It was my goal when I founded the foundation to put athletic fitness on a pedestal, much like the Greeks did,” Hopping said. “I’m trying to perpetuate something started thousands of years ago in Athens to mix academics with sports.”
He is venerated in the sports community.
“A lot of people like to get excited about organizing these different events and then they quit. Bruce doesn’t,” said Jim Machado, a north San Diego County surfing coach who took a foundation-sponsored team on an historic visit to Vietnam two years ago.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Born in Vietnam, where his parents served as diplomats, Hopping grew up in Port Newark, N.J., served as a U.S. Army pilot during World War II, and joined the Navy in the 1950s. He was a swimmer and later a swimming coach at the Navy’s Bainbridge, Md., basic training center.
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Hopping’s life was touched by scandal and he received a bad conduct discharge after Hopping publicly claimed some officers had supplied sailors with inferior beef while selling quality beef on the market for personal profit.
The Navy eventually charged Hopping with undermining discipline and publicly discrediting commanding officers. At the time, the press, which extensively covered the dispute, dubbed Hopping a “millionaire sailor” who bucked the brass.
Out of the Navy, Hopping formed the foundation and moved to Laguna Beach, where he has been an outspoken activist and frequently a critic of the school district and city over the years. He has, among other things, urged local high schools to drop football, which he considers too dangerous, and increase their aquatic sports programs.
The foundation organizes trips abroad and offers scholarships to athletes who can’t afford the travel.
Hopping has become a fixture at Laguna Beach high school aquatic sports banquets and at other high school banquets in the county, where trophies and awards are donated by the foundation. Coaches credit Hopping’s foundation for heavily supporting swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and gymnastics, in addition to surfing and water polo.
“Bruce is very generous and he knows how much work goes into the sports of water polo, swimming and surfing,” said Robert Gaughran, Rancho Santiago’s water polo coach, who was inducted into the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame last year. He has known Hopping since 1971.
He recalled how Hopping bought medallions for every student on the California Interscholastic Federation winning team and for the runners-up, and certificates for students named to the CIF all-star team.
“He’s kind of a quirky guy with the school board in Laguna Beach, but believe me, his heart’s in the right place,” said Gaughran. “And the thing with Bruce is that he asks nothing in return.”
Possibly the foundation’s most significant, and controversial, trip was to China Beach in Vietnam in 1992. Before leaving, Vietnam veterans and others complained that the trip was helping a Communist government, while others supported them and mailed in donations.
The trip, with its obvious symbolism for a group of returning Americans, received worldwide media coverage and was credited for paving the way for the first professional surfing meet in Vietnam, held a year later.
Politics aside, Machado said it left an indelible impression on the young Vietnamese. “We gave them extra surfboards, and we taught a group of swimmers from Da Nang the basics of surfing. It was incredible. Within two to three days, they were actually standing on the boards, not surfing, but at least they got up,” he said.
Hopping sometimes greets these cultural exchanges with mixed emotions.
“It’s difficult introducing Third World cultures to a California kid who’s 14, affluent and whose idea of cuisine is limited to a McDonald’s menu,” Hopping said.
For their part, the youths have an unforgettable experience.
“Anyone can go to Morocco to surf. With his trips, you don’t just go surfing. They’re different,” said Chad Mitchell, 17, a Dana Hills High School junior and veteran of Kalos Kagathos trips to Bali, Tahiti and Morocco. “With Bruce, you get to meet the people, see and learn more about the culture.”