Michael Ho celebrated his 65th birthday this week. He’s packed a lot of surfing into those years, considering he’s said to have caught his first wave at three. And in the time between, Ho won two Triple Crowns, competed in the Eddie four times, and won a lot of heats in more than two decades of competitive surfing. But what’s equally if not more impressive today is Michael Ho’s surfing at 65 years old.
People have spent all of 2022 freaking out over Kelly winning Pipe a few days short of 50, setting a new example of what can be accomplished beyond the 30s and 40s. Put Michael Ho somewhere on that same pedestal because even though his competitive years are long behind him he’s still setting a really, really high bar for the rest of us. He regularly pops up in feeds sharing sessions with son Mason and is still as entertaining to watch as ever. Partly because his stance and style can be spotted from a mile away. But also because the man still charges. So behold, Michael Ho’s surfing ability at 64 (now 65) years young – it’s something to give all of us a touch of hope. Age ain’t nothing but a number, after all.
