HISTORY

When Mitch first rocked up to Hawaii as a young grom in the late 90′s no one expected to much. Back home in Oz his reputation was growing but on the Northshore he was a virtual unknown.Rawlins put his head down and went about creating a name for himself on his Manta bodyboard and  Blade fins. His free surfing soon had tongues wagging that Australia had another Super grom coming up the ranks. This shot was taken by Chris Stroh at Off The Wall during that first trip. 

Maligs was one of the most flamboyant and unpredictable bodyboarders in the sport throughout the late 80′s and 90′s. At Off The Wall he would always  standout doing the weirdest and most cutting edge moves. On the beach he was a walking side show as well with his coloured hair and bright apparel. You never knew what he was going to do next.

When Waimea broke the South Africans were some of the first to hit it in the late 90′s. One of them was a young snowy headed kid with a mouthful of braces. Andre Botha was his name and in the coming years he would establish himself as the youngest ever dual World Champion. Photo Stroh.

Throughout his career Lester has been described as one of the most feared competitors in the sport of bodyboarding. He is the best bodyboarder to never win a world title, an event that has eluded him so far but after a few years off from competing he is now back hungrier than ever and even more determined. Ask most pro riders who they fear most competing against and nice guy Lesters name is usually at the top of the list. This photo taken back in early 2000 at Andrews favourite reef hideout Suckrock. Photo Stroh

 Tony Sykes was one of the true pioneers of Aussie bodyboarding and was there back in the real early days. Tony  bought his first Morey in Jan 76 as a kit board for $45 and was one of the only bodyboarders surfing in the Tamarama/Bondi area for a couple of years. When comps started in 82 he came 2nd at the first one ever, the “Winter Classic” at Queenscliff. Tony surfed and represented Australia with Evan Penglis & Mark Sutton at the 3rd Morey at Pipe in 84 where the frame grab below was taken during the comp.

 

While Eppo changed the course of bodyboarding by modernising prone moves in the early 90′s, Keith a few years early did the exact same thing for Dropknee. He took the progressive moves the new school surfers were doing and performed them on a bodyboard. This pic Keith was in rare form at Potholes blitzing every wave photo Stroh

Jay Reale from East Coast USA during a break from filming Rip The Pit one day at Newport Beach early 90′s photo Stroh.

 

When I first met Eppo  he was full of hyper active energy. Eppo hated school so to make up for his lack of education he would love playing tricks and performing stunts to get attention.  When he discovered bodyboarding he put his physical skills to good use and with launch-able waves in his own backyard he redefined what could be achieved on a bodyboard. The original air pioneer gets freaky in Hawaii…photo Chris Stroh mid 90′s.  

As a surf photographer I first met Dougy Robson around the late  80′s at a training/ photo session for the Aussie surf team heading to the world titles. Dougy was the only bodyboarder and the new hot kid who was super amped to shoot photos. After that first meeting he got hold of my phone number and for the next few years we started shooting photos almost daily. Dougy introduced me to hardcore bodyboarding and to all the other top bodyboarders. Soon I was spending more time shooting Dougy and his mates than I was shooting the standups which didn’t go down well with many of my old surfing friends. Dougy was super passionate about the fledgling sport and he dragged me along in his enthusiasm. It was his persistence that got me involved. Without his constantly pushing  I doubt I would have ever gone down that path. It was a shame his career was cut short with a heavy wipeout before he reached his full potential. Below Dougy King of The Island takes a left Photo Stroh early 90′s

When Hawaiian Jeff Hubbard burst onto the scene in the early 90′s the sport of Bodyboarding would never be the same again. Hubb took aerial moves to a new level of high performance with a emphasis on going big. Suddenly Hubb was breaking boundaries and creating new moves that had never been performed. Pic below Hubb shadow dancing at Pipe late 90′s photo Chris Stroh