Оңтүстік Африкалық серфинші Шон Томсон

South African surfer

Shaun Tomson (born 21 August 1955) is a South African 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.

Tomson was born in Durban, South Africa, and is Jewish. As a Jewish athlete, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. 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. Tomson attended school in Durban Clifton Preparatory, Carmel College, and the 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. 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. 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. 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.

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 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.

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.

Tomson founded, managed, and sold two multi million market leading clothing brands – Instinct in the 1980s, and Solitude in the 1990s. 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). Tomson lives with his wife in Montecito, California, in Santa Barbara, California, and surfs daily.