Artificial wave tech Surf Lakes announced the addition of world champ and WSL commentator Barton Lynch to their team. Photo: Surf Lakes (L); WSL/Cestari (R)
Endorsements. Endorsements. With the artificial wave tech space growing more competitive by the day, high-profile endorsements (and better still, actually bringing athletes on board) are some of the many ways companies are trying to build the hype for their future product.
To recap, here’s a quick lay of the land. Wavegarden doesn’t have any specific athletes on the team, but over the years have hosted a smattering of people (including our own Zach Weisberg!) to test drive their tech in the Spanish Basque Country. Kelly Slater Wave Co. has you know who and the WSL behind them. A company out of San Diego called American Wave Machines has Jamie O’Brien and Cheyne Magnusson. Greg Webber continues to toil with his design that he promises will be huge. And, Surf Lakes out of Australia has Occy and most recently Barton Lynch.
Surf Lakes announced the addition of Lynch to the team on Monday on their website, saying:
“We are proud to announce that former professional world surfing champion Barton Lynch has joined the team.
“The 1988 world champion, who currently features as a regular commentator on the World Surf League (WSL), is highly regarded within the surfing industry and will commence as a brand ambassador taking immediate effect.
“Lynch’s role will be centered on promotion of the Surf Lakes brand during the ongoing rollout of Surf Lakes sites across the globe. With Mark Occhilupo maintaining his position as the face of the brand, Lynch’s communications skills will be used to the full.”
As of May 2017, Surf Lakes was in the process of constructing their demonstration site which was slated to open late 2017. Presumably, that date’s been pushed back a bit as there are no recent updates on the Surf Lakes website.
