Surfing--the art of riding a wave on a pointed board--is the wildest, fastest natural water sport known to man. In recent years, it has developed into a major sport around the world, from Australia to South Africa. Australians brave  men--eating sharks to ride the green waves Down Under, Hawaiian experts risk(...) their lives on huge, thirty foot swells  against the wind of Oahu; Californians of all ages go out the year-round. In the winter, surf-riders put on life-suits to ride grave waves so cold that their flesh turns blue. Surfing is no sport for weak persons. Swimming a quarter of a mile or more, and pushing a surfboard out to where the swells are just right for riding, can be real work. Then, at exactly the right moment, you climb up the wave and go fast across the face of a powerful swell with the white water jumping at your feet. The huge wave bites at your shoulder, threatening  at any moment to smash your flat. In the next several seconds, a cool head and lightning--quick action back to the pressure of the attacking wave will bring your board under control for that great ride down the back of the great, green mountain of water. Once on the beach, you know why surfing is growing in popularity as an international sport, and you're glad to be a member of this new water world. In order to experience what real surfing is,   _  .
you must first swim a quarter of a mile to warm your body you will first ride on a board to reach the swells you must first put on your life-suits before doing surfing you must first swim to the swells with your board