Mark Richards

Obviously, the next year I lost.

So then when I had won my second world title, then I started like really kind of lining up like, okay, Tom Curran's got three, Mark Richards has four, but Mark Richards has four in a row.

And I started to, after I, I think after I won my, probably after I won my third world title, I really started to like look at, okay, MR's got four in a row.

I'm going to see if I can match that.

thing.

Yeah.

One of my most proud moments in my life, though, has been Mark Richards telling me if he could surf one way the rest of his life, it would be Surf Ranch.

no way the wave that you created yeah that's really cool

Yeah.

Absolute Mark Richards.

These are the people that we check in and the athletes check in with.

Like, it's the same as Gabe.

Yeah.

Do you, talking about comparing him to what other surfers make, that Phil Jarrett article where he says $80,000 a year in the headline was 1979, which was the year Mark Richards won the world title.

Do you want to guess what Mark Richards took home in contest earnings that year? It was really low.

In

contest earnings? Yeah.

So you're still kind of paying attention to him.

I remember in the 77 Caton, um, By the time we were all, at that point, we were already hip to, so this is before the movie came out, but we already knew what had happened in what's called the free ride winter, which was 75, 76.

So we already knew Mark Richards and Bugs and Sean were getting cover shots and center spreads and everything.

Yes.

Mark Richards.

Mark Richards.

Yeah,

the surfer.

All of them.

Tom Carroll, Mark Richards-

Anyone with a world title basically

...

There's definitely demeanour involved here, man.

Mark Richards, you know, didn't, like, always come across as the most aggro as do, but famously in the water, just skits.

Carol and Karen sort of coming from different places.

Like, I'd think of Tom as more like your Andy Irons, Philippe Toledo kind of competitor, whereas Karen's a little more...

...

Mark Richards and

...

the, the first athlete they sponsored, I actually set the deal up.

Why don't I do exactly that? So I flew over to Florida.

And then the year that I did it, it was Mark Richards who had brought his board.

No way.

And he was judging the thing.

And I remember just being a little bit like, butt hurt about it you know like ego bruised a little bit but he came right up to me charged right up to me with his big old he has huge hands right really and he just gave me a huge handshake and a big smile he's like so stoked to surf against you and you know Shane has a lot of enthusiasm and I like instantly he's like well I like this guy this kid's epic uh even though I was salty I was like I really like this guy and that is in a nutshell our entire relationship as surfers you know we were We really tried to motivate each other and we really wanted to beat each other, but we also respected each other.

Yeah, I think your generation, you know, when we think about the previous generations, the generation that started pro surfing, you know, Sean Thompson, Mark Richards, Robert Bartholomew and the rest, that generation created there was no money.

There was a dream.

And they built this thing.

Generally, and this is another thing I wondered, in our, you know, the generation before us, there was, they're all first generations, like rabbits, mum and dad didn't surf.

Sean's dad was involved in surfing and the beach lifestyle, but he wasn't a surfer so much.

Most everyone, Ray Richards, Mark Richards, dad had a surf shop and was kind of involved, but it was fringe, you know, no one was really.

Then into our generation, Tom Curran.