Na maliu le faʻailoga paionia ma le paionia o Jack O'Neill i le lalolagi i le 94 o ona tausaga i lona fale Kalefonia i le Aso Toʻonaʻi na siʻomia e lona aiga.

O O'Neill, o le na fesoasoani e fausia le ofu mafanafana, faʻataga ai le au faaseʻe e tiʻetiʻe galu i le vai malulu, o se tala faʻasolopito o le lalolagi faaseʻe ma faaauau ai ona siamupini i le gataifale mafuaʻaga mulimuli ane i le olaga.

O le 94-tausaga le matua na fausia se tasi o sili lauiloa ituaiga o faaseʻe luga o le paneta ina ua maeʻa tatalaina lona muamua faaseʻe faleoloa i San Francisco ala i tua i le 1959.

Na amata ona ia ofuina lana faʻailoga faʻailoga mata ina ua leiloa se mata i se faʻalavelave faaseʻe aʻo tiʻetiʻe i se galu i le 1970s.

Na mulimuli ane siitia e O'Neill lona aiga i saute i Santa Cruz, Kalefonia, lea na ia tatalaina ai lona faleoloa lona lua, ma e oʻo atu i le 1980 ua avea ma sili ona tele i le lalolagi gaosi lavalava ma gaosi oloa, e ui lava i le taimi muamua ana uo sa leai se tele o talitonu i lana eleele fatuga fou.

"Na fai mai aʻu uo uma, 'O'Neill, o le a e faʻatau atu i au uo e toʻalima i luga o le matafaga ona oʻo ai lea oe i fafo ma le pisinisi,'" na ia taʻua ai, e tusa ai ma lona aiga.

Na manaʻo e faaseʻe umi atu i vai malulu mai le talafatai o Kalefonia, na amata ai ona faataʻitaʻi O'Neill i mea eseese, ma iu ai ina fausia le uluaʻi neoprene wetsuit, o loʻo ofuina pea e tagata faʻaseʻe e oʻo mai i lenei aso.

Mulimuli ane i le olaga, na amata ona ia taulaʻi atu i le gataifale mafuaʻaga mafuaʻaga, faʻatuina le O'Neill Sea Odyssey i le 1996, o se mea na ia manatu o lona mitamita ausiaina.

O le polokalame ua faʻatagaina nei lata i le 100,000 tamaiti e faimalaga i lona lava nofoaga i le Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, ina ia aʻoaʻoina e uiga i le faasaoina o le gataifale.

"O loʻo ola le sami ma e tatau ona tatou vaʻaia," o le tala lea a le faʻaseʻe taʻutaʻua. "E leai se masalosalo i loʻu mafaufau o le O'Neill Sea Odyssey o le mea sili lea na ou faia."

O faʻailoga ua liligi mai luga o upega tafaʻilagi mai vaega faaseʻe ma tagata fiafia i le lalolagi atoa.

OA MEA E AVEA MAI LENEI TUSI:

O'Neill, who helped invent the wetsuit, allowing surfers to ride the waves in cold water, was a legend of the surfing world and went on to champion marine environmental causes later in life.
O'Neill later moved his family south to Santa Cruz, California, where he opened his second shop, and by the 1980s had become the world's biggest wetsuit designer and manufacturer, though initially his friends didn't have much faith in his groundbreaking invention.
Wanting to surf for longer in the cold waters off the California coast, O'Neill began experimenting with a variety of materials, eventually inventing the first neoprene wetsuit, still worn by surfers to this day.