10/04/2022
Equal parts eccentric genius and humble introvert, Tom Curren is surfing’s most mythic figure. Because he does so few interviews — in fact, we tried to talk with him for this piece, to no avail — he’s strangely unknowable, despite being one of the most popular surfers in history. To shed some light on the legend, we asked some of his contemporaries and friends to share their favorite Curren stories. This one was told by Shaun Tomson - I first surfed against Tom in a contest at the 1981 Katin Pro/Am in Huntington Beach. He was 16. A lot of top competitors were in the event and Tom was still surfing as an amateur. I remember coming against him in the final, and the surf was perfect, 4 to 6 feet. I just—just—scraped out the win. I was a hardcore competitor, ranked in the top two or three in the world then, and I just scraped by. I thought, “Wow, this kid has got unbelievable talent.” Tom declined the prize money because he wanted to maintain his amateur status.
A year later, we’re in Japan, at the Marui Pro. The surf’s 8-foot-plus and solid, with maybe a couple of 10-foot sets. And I’m thinking, “There is no way that this little kid is going to beat me.” I paddle out and I have a brilliant heat. I smoked the dude. In those days you couldn’t always hear the results, and you couldn’t see what the results were. You had to walk up the beach after the heat and catch someone’s eye, and if they gave you the thumbs up, you knew: You smoked the guy! As I’m walking up the beach, I’m trying to catch people’s eyes, but they all turn away. Finally someone asks me, “Did you see Curren’s right-hander?” We’d been surfing the wave for a week, not one competitor had ridden a right, and he got a 10-point ride on one! That was the relationship with the ocean he had for the rest of his time on the pro tour. If every contestant is going left, Tom Curren would find a 10-point ride going right.