HISTORY

Neal Stephenson, in the mid 90′s was South African Champion and the country’s most standout rider. He rode for the prestigious Morey label and his performances at Pipe were fearless. Along with Dean Seppings, The Cockwell Bros  and a young Alistair Taylor they put South Africa on the bodyboarding map competitively. In ’98 while surfing a local wave back home called Keurboomstrand he was attacked by a white pointer shark and suffered severe injuries to both legs. His left leg was saved, but his right leg was amputated above the knee and a prosthesis was fitted later. The attack finnished his bodyboard career but undetered he is now a champion wave-ski surfer. Photo Stroh Neal competing in the Pipe Championships around ’94.

In  the early 1990s, three women bodyboarders from Brazil, Mariana Nogueira, Glenda Koslowski and Stephanie Peterson set standards that pushed women’s bodyboarding to a world class level. Stephanie Peterson took it one step further when she won the first official World Championship of Women’s Bodyboarding at Pipeline in 1990. It was the first women’s event ever held there .Stephanie won 4 World titles and 6 Pipe Championships during her time at the top. Her secret to success is simply “My Love for the Sport”. Steph at Pipe pic by Stroh.

 

Marcello from Brazil was a standout competitor around the late 80′s and early 90′s. He was a respected big wave performer in Hawaii excelling at Pipe and Backdoor. On land Marcello was a soft spoken gentleman but when he hit the waves the animal emerged and he charged hard especially in the comps. He regularly hung out with Tamega and Alex De Pontes and was one of the best and most consistent riders during this time from Brazil. Pic below Marcello in Backdoor gem pic Stroh.

Through out the 90′s Vicki Gleeson was the poster girl of Aussie bodyboarding. Hailing from Port Macquarie and with brother Peter a competitive bodyboarder as well she soon dominated the local Aussie women’s scene. While Vicki never won a world title she was a top competitor on the international women’s circuit as well winning her fair share of tour events. In 2002 she was inducted into the Australasiaan Bodyboarder Hall of Fame. Today Vicki lives in the US with hubby Jay Reale and family.

Hailing from Queensland in Australia, Jarrat was a standout performer who turned up on the Cooly scene around the later part of the 80′s. Jarrat and Barny became partners and led the Queesland push by tearing up the waves at Kirra, Burleigh, D Bah and a certain reef. Jarrat was wild and explosive and showed early potential and word spread fast about his ability. On the Gold Coast he was a bit of a underground legend but turned his back on competition early and the whole bodyboard scene and put all his effort into just riding hard and deep. This pic was taken at The Reef by Peto mid 90′s.  

Chris Burkhart comes from the Island of Kaua’i. He was one of the Kaui Classic Team and was a strong pro competitor throughout the late 80′s and most of the 90′s winning his share of events. Chris is your typical Hawaiian. With a huge smile, he had a big frame and plenty of ability in big or small waves. One of Burke’s main assets was his flexibillity, for an XL  man he was a freak. Burkes starred in the video “Fuel” and was full of aloha. He ripped hard no matter the conditions or whether he was on the crowded Northshore or the perfect secret spots back home on Kaua’i. This photo Backdoor in Hawaii taken by Chris Stroh

By the late 90′s Roach, Aka and Ballard the three goofy footed kings of DK  combined interest in the sport was starting to wane. All of a sudden there was a huge void of DK talent and photos. Matt Lackey from the Gold Coast soon filled the space. Lackey a natural foot was super keen and worked with photographers and in a short period of time magazines were full of double page spreads of his stylish carving. Lackey was soon sponsored by Billabong and his mass exposure in there adv introduced his riding ability to the world. Today Matt continues to push Dropknee to a dying market. Once regarded as cool, DK has definitely had a drop in popularity and participants of late. Matt remains unfazed and continues to stay loyal to the cause. The Lackey heavy gouge at OTW  below photo Chris Stroh

Manny from Imperial Beach in California was never after the title as the best bodyboarder in the world but he was one of the sports most entertaining. During most of the  90′s Manny was a regular standout at Off The Wall, ripping Dropknee with big carves and snaps with his fluro coloured hair and wearing footy jerseys and other assorted unusual clothing attire. When The Shorey was firing he was out there as well pulling in all for the photo glory. These days Manny is a media mogul and behind the scenes guy,  a former Bodyboarding Mag editor and now contest announcer as well as a promotion guy. This pic showing Manny pulling in at the Shorey mid 90′s by Stroh.

Jeffrey Dean Hubbard from Kaui in Hawaii changed the face of bodyboarding with his outrageous aerial assault in the ’90s. He took what Eppo was doing and then brought  it to another level. His tweaked airs and rotations above the lip were spectacular and some of the biggest boosts of all time. What set him apart, he was getting higher and doing it every session no matter what the waves were like. He introduced the Hubb move and then he was the first bodyboarder to pull  a 720 rotation captured on film. He sealed his fate when he won the World Title and entered the history books as one of the sports most innovative riders.Below Hubb getting vert at Shark Island. Click the link to see Hubb in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neglPqhJV58

As a Grommet, Barney from the Gold Coast first began to bodysurf before he progressed to a standup for 6 months. He then got given a crappy coolite bodyboard for Xmas and got the bug. “My parents next bought me a Scott BZ and I started entering contests and winning them.” Barney won the Open Oz title at Dee Why in 86 then again in ’90 on the mid north coast. His best surf trip was Hawaii in ’86 when he competed at Pipe. Today the Barndog is still as keen as ever and is a regular out at Kirra when it breaks. Barny’s regarded as the Gold Coasts senior bodyboarding statesman he also is the Goldies largest bodyboard rep.  pic below Hawaii ’86 by Tom Boyle.