I’ve been surfing the Great Lakes for 12 years now and have personally seen the level of surfing rise in that time. With that progression, I’ve also seen more and more eyes drawn to the freshwater community. As a Great Lakes ambassador, I believe in sharing the stoke and pushing myself to get better as a competitor
A year and a half ago, Rob Kelly was judging my final in the ESA regional in New Jersey ( which I won). Not too long after that, I ended up in a heat against Rob (I lost) in Rhode Island. Following that, there was a perfect forecast on the horizon and I decided I’d invite Rob out for a surf. We’d be going to a place close to the Saint Laurence river bordering Canada and thanks to having a friend who owned the private property that accessed this wave, I’d been surfing the place by myself for more than a decade. I knew it would be good regardless of the long drive and Rob was excited. Meanwhile, I was excited to see how Rob could surf in my backyard and what he would think of our waves.
Of course, he ripped. He treated us to a show and made me realize how legit our Great Lakes waves are and just how much more we can all do on them.
“Growing up in the landlocked state of Pennsylvania, I’ve always been fascinated by what I’ve seen and heard about the surf scene on the Great Lakes,” he said. “There’s no doubt it takes a lot more work and patience to score waves up there but there are waves. Everyone I’ve met on the lakes doesn’t seem to mind the cold and driving it takes to find them so I don’t think it’s fair to call surfing the lakes a novelty these days. But there’s still something special about scoring up there that I can’t quite put my finger on.”
Editor’s Note: Video provided by Ryan Simalchik.
