# Shaun Tomson

Shaun Tomson (born 21 August 1955) is a South African and American professional surfer and former world champion, environmentalist, actor, author, and businessman. He has been listed among the top 10 surfers of the century, and was the 1977 World Surfing Champion.

## Early life and education

Tomson was born in Durban, South Africa, and is Jewish. His mother, Marie (1930 - 2021), grew up in Malta, where she survived the Siege of Malta, bombing raids by the air and naval forces of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and was evacuated to South Africa. She later converted to Judaism. His father Ernie (Chony) Tomchinsky (1930 - 1981), was born to Jewish parents, with Shaun's grandfather, Samuel Tomchinsky fleeing pogroms in the Russian Empire (present-day) Latvia in the early 1900s. Ernie was a world class swimmer, whose sporting career was cut short by a shark attack. Shaun had his Bar Mitzvah at his familial shul, Temple David, a Reform congregation.
Tomson was educating in Durban, first attending Clifton Preparatory and then completing his high school education and matric at Carmel College, a Jewish High School. He later enrolled at University of Natal, where he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Business Finance. He graduated from Northeastern University with a Master of Science in Leadership with a focus on social change.
He learned to surf in the beachbreaks in and around Durban under the watchful eye of his father Ernie, and alongside older cousin Michael Tomson and brother Paul Tomson.
As a Jewish athlete, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

## Career

Tomson went on to dominate amateur surfing competition in South Africa and began venturing over to Hawaii in the late 1960s, courtesy of a bar mitzvah present from his father. It was on one of these trips that an awestruck 14-year-old Tomson witnessed first hand the so-called "Biggest Wave Ever Ridden" by Californian Greg Noll at Mākaha in 1969. Hawaii's surf proved to be a daunting challenge for Tomson, but he continued to mature and train in South Africa's hollow waves, such as Cave Rock, the Bay of Plenty, and Jeffrey's Bay.
Tomson won 19 major professional surf events, has been listed as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century and as one of the 10 greatest surfers of all time. During his career he was both the youngest and oldest surfer to win a pro event, and is considered to be one of the architects of professional surfing.

### Surfing and the Free Ride generation

In 1975, Tomson was an integral part of the "Free Ride" generation. Along with Australians Wayne Bartholomew, Mark Richards, Ian Cairns, Peter Townend, and Mark Warren, they rode the infamous waves along Oahu's legendary North Shore with a style, aggression, and raw courage unseen prior to their arrival. Collectively, these surfers changed the face of surfing and were the first to really apply themselves as serious professional surfers. With his good looks, eloquence, and undeniable athleticism, Tomson served by default as the face and voice of this movement and he is still viewed as the prototype blueprint for today's pro surfer, with legions of fans throughout the world. Tomson won the highly coveted International Professional Surfers World Championship in 1977.
On a performance level, Tomson completely changed the way the tube section of the wave was ridden, using a unique style of pumping and weaving through and around collapsing sections of the barrel. Even today, his electrifying performances at Off the Wall and Backdoor Pipeline stand the test of time. A memorable quote of his from the period was, "Time is expanded inside the tube." A very underrated aspect of Tomson's inventiveness was his in the tube punch throughs where he escaped unscathed from hideous closeout sections over a shallow reef.

### Accolades

In 2014 Tomson was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame (1997), the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1998), the South African Sports Hall of Fame (1977), and received the SIMA Environmentalist of the Year Award (2002) and the Surfrider Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).

## Other ventures

Tomson founded, managed, and sold two multi-million market-leading clothing brands, with the Surf focused Instinct in the 1980s, and Solitude in the 1990s.
He is currently an inspirational speaker for some of the world's largest companies and talks about the influence of positive values on success in life and business based on his own experiences of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, in and out of the surf. An attitude of Commitment and Positivity is the basis for Tomson's empowering business philosophy based on his "Surfer's Code – 12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life". He has spoken internationally and inspired and touched the hearts of audiences as large as 3,000 people, has shared the stage with well-known personalities, including Sir Richard Branson and Malcolm Gladwell, and inspired corporations such as General Motors, Cisco, Price Waterhouse, Toys R Us, Sasol, Disney, Google, Primedia, MTN and Adcock Ingram.
In October 2024, he announced that he was relaunching his brand, Instinct. Tomson explained: “In our divided and fractured world, Instinct what I'm intending to inspire, and unite people through the values in the Surfer's Code.”
Tomson is also the author of the best-selling Surfer's Code – 12 Simple lessons for riding through life and the #1 Amazon teen bestseller: The Code - The Power of I Will. He also authored Bustin' Down the Door – Revolution of '75, a companion to the film of the same name and Krazy Kreatures – Under my Surfboard!, a collection of illustrated rhymes for children. In 2022, he released The Surfer and the Sage with Familius Publishing.
Tomson has released 3 iPhone/iPad applications – Surfboards, a reference guide for surfboards; Surfer – a digital form of Surfer's Code and Surf Creatures, animated rhymes for children.

## Personal life
### Family

In 1980, Tomson relocated to California. He was joined by his mother Marie, sister Tracy and brother, Paul. In 1983, Tomson began dating Carla Winnick. The pair married four years later at his familial shul, Temple David in Durban.
The Tomsons' son Mathew died at 15 years of age on 24 April 2006 in Durban, South Africa, from an accidental death caused by playing the "choking game."In his autobiography, published in 2022, Tomson wrote about reconnecting with his Jewish faith in the wake of the tragedy of his son's death and returning to Temple David.
Tomson lives with his wife and adopted son, Luke in Montecito, California, in Santa Barbara, California, and surfs daily.

### Identity

In 1985 he spoke to The Los Angeles Times about his South African identity: "I didn't leave South Africa for moral reasons. California was the place for me in terms of my future. I know there are a lot of things inherently wrong in South Africa. But I've never denied I'm from there." He continued: "I feel South Africa has potential to be a great country. But there has to be a form of power share. The black man has no say in the government at the moment, and you can't get away with it, it's an unfair situation. I've come out publicly that I do not like the policy of apartheid and am opposed to the kind of system of government in South Africa. But I'm also opposed to violent change.”
Amid the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel and rising levels of antisemitism, Tomson has spoken about his Jewish identity: “So my relationship with my religion and Israel has changed…I am now no longer Jewish. I am a Jew...” Tomson travelled to Israel at the invitation of Omer Levy of Shabbat Surf Club, where he participated in a memorial paddle for the twenty-six surfers killed in the terrorist attacks.

## Environmentalism

Tomson is a board member and ambassador for Surfrider Foundation, the world's largest environmental group dedicated to protecting the world's oceans, waves, and beaches. In 1984 he was the first professional surfer to become a member of the foundation and was chairman of the advisory board. In 2002 he received the Surf Industry Manufacturer Association Environmentalist of the Year Award for his environmental efforts. Tomson also co-founded and remains affiliated with the environmentally active celebrity surfer organization Project Save Our Surf.

## Filmography

Tomson has appeared in many films, including Free Ride, Fantasea, Many Classic Moments, and In God's Hands. Tomson also co-produced an award-winning full-length feature film about the benchmark mid-1970s surfing era called Bustin' Down the Door, which premiered in early 2008. He also wrote and narrated a documentary about Jeffreys Bay called A Pure Line.