Shaun Tomson drops in at Waimea. Photo courtesy of Shaun Tomson
To see and hear legendary surfer Shaun Tomson give a motivational speech can be as exhilarating as watching him drop in on a massive wave. The energy this world surf champion emanates is infectious.
I had the pleasure of meeting Tomson and hearing one of his talks at the world-famous Bird’s Surf Shed in San Diego in June during a kick-off BBQ for the 100 Wave Challenge for Boys to Men. Tomson’s speech was based off his two popular books: The Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life and The Code: The Power Of “I Will.”
For The Surfer’s Code, the Durban, South African-born Tomson shares life lessons from decades of surfing – from his boyhood adventures to the world tour in the late 1970s to the current business world. Meanwhile, The Code: The Power Of “I Will” is a simple strategy for confronting everyday challenges and making positive, life-changing decisions. This same code has not only helped Tomson achieve professional success, but it has also helped carry him through grief after the loss of his teenage son, Mathew.
As part of his mission to inspire and encourage others, Tomson has joined the San Diego-based Boys to Men Mentoring Network (BTM) for its annual 100 Wave Challenge. The surf-a-thon, scheduled for Saturday, September 20 in Mission Beach, California, is the main funding source for BTM, a non-profit organization that helps pave a positive path for fatherless teenage boys. The 100 Wave Challenge accounts for 60 percent of BTM’s annual budget, which has doubled since the first event five years ago. The event raised $200,000 in 2013, and the goal this year is $300,000. The organization plans to sign up 300 surfers for this year’s event, compared to 130 in 2013. To sign up, click here.
The goal of the 100 Wave Challenge is for each surfer to raise at least $1,000 and attempt to surf 100 waves in 12 hours. There will be sections in the water for longboards, shortboards, stand-up paddle boards, boogie boards and body surfers.
Launched in 1996, BTM helps keep young men out of the criminal justice system and improve their access to higher education. It also provides boys a place where they can hear other boys and men tell the truth about the problems they face and a community where boys know they are not alone. BTM has mentored over 6,000 boys and has trained mentors in 24 states. The organization also hosts regular “Surf Nights” for the boys and mentors to interact.
I recently spoke with Tomson more in-depth about his involvement with the 100 Wave Challenge and how it relates to his passion and drive for surfing and life and to his connection to the ocean and humanity.
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AS: How can you help influence change in these young men through the 100 Wave Challenge and surfing?
ST: Change in any individual’s life is dependent on two important factors: One is does the individual want to change? And without that feeling of wanting to change and that urgency nothing is going to happen. I think secondly there has to be some sort of connection between another positive individual that can be a role model. You have to have a positive role model – the ocean is a greatly way to inspire people to become connected.
I have ridden waves that are a medium for energy that is being transported from thousands of miles away. The way that we transmit energy to one another is similar to energy that transmits to surfers in the form of waves.
The ocean has this unbelievable energy from both a physical and metaphysical level. You can sit there and look at the ocean and it has this calming, therapeutic influence, and inside of that is this amazing energy that is invisible. That energy only becomes visible in the form of waves on the shoreline. It’s like the energy inside of us, which we give to one another in the form of love or positivity. I love what Boys to Men is doing with mentoring these young teenage boys. They are getting these mentors to transmit positive energy to these boys and they are using surfing to empower them.
Mentors can help boost confidence in young men and I think that if the relationship is solid it can build trust. The physical aspect of surfing itself is very empowering because it’s very individualistic. With that comes with the feeling of humility; the best surfers in the world have that same sense of humility.
How has the ocean and surfing changed or empowered your life?
Let’s talk about the feeling of optimism and hope that surfing gives you. One of the fundamental aspects of the personalities of surfers is they are optimistic. You wake up when it’s dark and travel down to the beach, and you never know what it’s going to be like, but you just go. You change into your wet wetsuit and paddle out into the lineup; you do it because you are optimistic that you are going to get that wave. Surfing is uncertain. It’s not like I am going to play tennis at 3 o’clock or play 18 holes of golf. You can go down to the beach and it’s flat or you can get the wave of your life. Because of that it has this incredibly powerful attraction based around hope and optimism that you are going to get that amazing wave.
You have tackled some of the world’s largest and most difficult and dangerous waves, such as the Banzai Pipeline. How can you compare surfing to life’s challenges?
Both of the books that I wrote are about commitment; every chapter begins with those two words ‘I will.’ I really think that commitment underlies life itself. We have to be committed and have a purpose. I know a lot of the young boys involved with Boys to Men might have gone down a bad road or made a wrong choice, but I think they are committed to something new now and the mentors are committed to helping them. All of us want to change. The ‘Code’ is a really great tool for change and a good tool that is based around commitment. This concept of paddling over the edge and going for it, and taking that drop with commitment underlies a lot of good in life. The ‘Code’ is not mine. That framework came from the ocean and from 49 years of surfing the greatest waves in the world and meeting some of the most inspiring, intelligent and committed people.
What has been one of the biggest “commitments” you have made in your surfing career and life?
I was 19 years old and in the middle of an economics degree. I went to a surf competition in Hawaii; the surf was so big they had to move the contest from Sunset to Waimea Bay. I didn’t have a board big enough so I had to find one. As I was paddling out I thought that this was my first chance at success in Hawaii. I remember paddling around the group with confidence. I was so confident and focused that I paddle over to the edge. I still remember taking off on the third wave and on the way down I hit the reef. When you have a three-story building coming down on your head, it’s a big wave. I managed to land, but my legs buckled and I skipped across the water. The violence of the impact was incredible. It was dark and black down there and there was this terrible sound of rocks thrashing around underneath. I manage to doggy paddle my way to the surface. The second wave mowed me down, and then eventually I got swept into the channel. I came up and couldn’t feel my legs. I remember doggy paddling about 300 yards to my surfboard. I had to make a decision – the shore was 300 yards away and looked very inviting. But I remember swinging my board around and paddling back out. That moment of decision changed my life. I think my life would have been different if I didn’t paddle back out. If you want a better life you have to make that decision. I lost my beautiful son to a bad choice. My mission is to empower positive choices.
Surfing has given me hope and has helped me through life, just like it has helped these young boys with BTM on their path to manhood. It’s like a wave that’s building and getting better.
