Dion Agius, the Tasmanian-born pro surfer/filmmaker who began his career on the Gold Coast and now resides in Southern California made a recent contribution to the ever-expanding internet.
Under a still frame taken from a recent WSL promotional video Agius wrote:
“Is this really for real. What on earth is @wsl trying to turn surfing into? Who is approving this? 195 lbs of BOOM? WIZARDRY? WARRIORS? Have a look at the latest Instagram clip promoting the next Brazil event and tell me this shit isn’t getting out of hand.”
I don’t want to start off petty, really. I don’t know Dion Agius, I’ve never met him, most likely never will. I’m a fan of his surfing but nowadays, mehhh. The surfers who really excite me, the surfers who are the most talented in the world, are WSL competitors. I’m sorry Agius, you didn’t make the cut.
Say what you will about the marketing strategy or the contrived hype machinations the WSL is experimenting with. One thing is for sure. Without commercialized surfing, Agius, and rebellious “freesurfers” like him would have no career. And yes, I’d prefer my commercialized surfing in the blissfully entertaining and innovation-driving form of competitive surfing. I would swap out Agius’s artsy-fartsy surf flicks anytime.
In fact, he seems to have some misguided understanding of where his own fortunes come from. But I can’t blame him, he may have a fair excuse. Agius, who earns his living directly from the commercialized surfing market might be too busy traveling the world and getting paid to surf. After all, hopping on planes, island-jumping and standing in drainers all day can be a serious workload.
The WSL represents competitive surfing. In no way does the WSL try to represent the collective surfing community or the spirit of surfing itself, whatever that is. It doesn’t take a lot of reflection to understand a sport can come in many iterations all of which are mutually exclusive, capable of coexisting in harmony all at the same damn time. When Tony Hawk landed the 900 at the X-Games to win gold it did not usher in the street-skating apocalypse.
One could even argue that any commercialized aspect of a sport, including surfing, should be just that, commercialized. Not painfully attempting to be some version of authentic, regardless of how you might feel about Agius’ surf vids. #notmyauthenticity
The WSL is entertainment, it’s commercialized, and its main focus is money-making. It’s because of the WSL that ancillary markets in surfing can exist. The WSL draws people to the sport. It generates fans and creates spillover and interest into other areas like apparel, surf journalism, and even Agius’ own niche artsy-surf-travel-short-doc-bad-editing stuff. Without it, Agius may have to put away his passport and start applying for entry level marketing jobs like the rest of us.
Editor’s Note: Opinions expressed by The Inertia Contributors are their own.
