#8: SHAUN TOMSON
SURFER Celebrates the 50 Greatest Surfers of All Time
It’s quite ironic that the day Shaun Tomson arrived in Hawaii for his first full winter on the North Shore, Off The Wall was absolutely pumping. I picked him up from the airport, took him to where he was staying, dropped his stuff off, and charged down to the fabled break. It was early season and sand had built up from Ehukai through to Pipe and linked with Off The Wall. Shaun just took to the place immediately, his wide-stance tube-riding style, honed to perfection at Durban’s Bay of Plenty and Cave Rock, adapted seamlessly with the powerful North Shore barrels. That was a timeless session on a Hall of Fame day.
The rest, as they say, is history. Shaun’s surfing over the next few winters defined an era, his tube-riding, captured so magnificently by Bill Delaney in Free Ride, made him famous worldwide. As Pete Townend says in Bustin’ Down the Door, Shaun was the Kelly Slater of our era; he had the whole package: Hollywood looks, charisma, charm, versatility, phenomenal power, and amazing skills.
To me, however, what set Shaun apart was his professionalism. In an age when surfing was viewed as a subversive activity, Shaun Tomson was the consummate ambassador for professional surfing, talking it up, ever reliable with interviews and photo shoots, winning tournaments around the globe, dressing impeccably, flashing that Hollywood smile on the winner’s dais. The guy really put pro surfing on the global map. I have more respect for Shaun as a person and a surfer than anyone; his legacy is being played out by the multi-millionaire set that rule the waves today and tomorrow.
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READER COMMENTS
Tue Sep 1, 2009, 7:13 AM
"... his legacy is being played out by the multi-millionaire set that rule the waves today and tomorrow." Wow, that's just such a fantastic evolution of surfing, don't you think?
Tue Sep 1, 2009, 1:55 PM
Extremely well written, and absolutly true.
Tue Sep 1, 2009, 9:21 PM
I'm in phils boat. what happened to SOUL surfing?The art form and communion with nature?.That's what surfing is all about, not money, gaudy metal and ego trips. Like Dora did, flash your ass to the judges!
Thu Sep 3, 2009, 4:08 AM
wow! i did not know this stuff. yet i met him in 2005 at JP's Surf Camp(: i am entirely lucky to have met this very well known surfer! and i got his freakin autograph!!! whoaaa!
Fri Sep 4, 2009, 6:26 PM
We are all different but when I watched Bustin Down the Door, I had trouble relating to how huge the egos of Shaun & MR were. (Rabbit was cool). These guys appeared so driven for self-acclaim, it diminished the movie greatly for me. Apart from that, Shaun Tomson is always incredible to watch. Objectively, he warrants to be a little higher on the list. What he did and how he surfed was far greater than say MR or Curren. Shaun was brilliant.
Tue Sep 8, 2009, 10:24 AM
Watched Bustin Down the Door yesterday,Shaun Tomson is a surfing legend, he's from my hometown Durban, back those days remember watching him at the Gunston 500, thanks for the write up Mr Bartholomew.
Thu Sep10, 2009, 1:27 AM
Mohammed A. was to boxing as Shaun T.was to surfing - hands down man! .... but life has not spared him. The lost of Mathew his son is unforgetable and heartbreaking. What is also amazing to me is how he spoke of the ASP surfers - with such respect and admiration. At the JBay competition in July - he spoke about them, (Slater, Mick et al)- while working as the Billabong commentator, as though he had never surfed before! Shaun is different. He has no ego.
Thu Sep10, 2009, 5:53 AM
...and another point: Shaun was like the Apollo 13 mission to the moon - man! - he helped open up OTW, mastered deep tube riding on the North Shore...These concepts were rare in the 70's. Today it happens all the time... but it all started with some help form a South African. So young surfer; when you paddle out at Cave Rock in Durban or do your bottom turn at Supers, or stare down that 360 degree Pipe take off - think of who has being there before you...