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20 GREATEST SURFERS OF ALL TIME?
Surfer magazine ask for votes to decide best surfers in history
Category: General
Posted by: tim
I was recently asked to vote for the greatest surfers of all time for Surfer magazine. It's a daunting task. How do you compare surfers of different eras? I tried to ask myself, how different might surfing have been without each individual? How did they change surfing? Surfer were going to compile the votes from an international panel to come up with their list of the 50 greatest surfers of all time. I'm sure there are some nationalistic biases but this is what I came up with. Duke picks himself at number one as far as I'm concerned because who knows how many of us would have found surfing without him. Wayne Lynch and Michael Peterson are probably controversial picks at two and three but my theory is they basically defined shortboard surfing, while a lot of their contemporaries were still coming to terms with the newly abridged equipment of the day. I'm sure there'll be some howls of outrage about Mike Stewart and possibly Mark Cunningham in the list, but they have each defined alternative forms of wave riding in the modern era. In the same way, Lisa has to be in there as the best female surfer of the modern era, based on sheer performance, not numbers of world titles. No offence Layne. Have the nagging sense that I've forgotten someone but not sure who:
20 GREATEST SURFERS OF ALL TIME, IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE.
1.Duke Kahanamoku
2. Wayne Lynch.
3. Michael Peterson
4. Kelly Slater
5. Tom Curren
6. Nat Young
7. Mark Richards
8. Mark Occhilupo
9. Cheyne Horan
10. Phil Edwards
11. Tom Carroll
12. Miki Dora
13. Shaun Tomson
14. George Greenough
15. Jeff Hakman
16. Buttons Kaluiokalani
17. Laird Hamilton
18. Mark Cunningham
19.Lisa Andersen
20. Mike Stewart