hellwoman
12-28-2007, 07:49 AM
Pride of the Westside: Anthony Tashnick's youth belies his experience
Leo Maxam
Sentinel Correspondent
At 23, Anthony Tashnick is the youngest invitee to the Mavericks Surf Contest. With the average age of the surfers in the prestigious big-wave event hovering in the mid-to late 30s, it's only logical to assume that most young surfers lack the physical and mental maturity that comes from years of heavy water experience required to excel at a break of Maverick's caliber. Tashnick, however, possesses a different mind-set than your average young surfer.
Take, for example, the wave that first put him on the big wave radar back in the winter of 2001. In just his fourth session out at Mav's, a 16-year-old Tashnick found himself sitting outside of the pack on a clean, 25-foot day when the biggest set of the winter began marching in, threatening to catch everyone inside.
Where most groms -- or surfers of any age, for that matter -- would have been scratching for the horizon in an attempt to make it outside, Tashnick spun around and paddled as hard as he could to catch what he described as "the opportunity of a lifetime."
Sure enough, he dropped into the wave of the winter -- and subsequently received the pounding of his life when he reached the bottom and took a heaving section square on his shoulders.
"I got annihilated," Tashnick said. "My eyes couldn't focus for a few seconds when I first came up. There were more waves in the set and I took three on the head and got washed through the rocks. I inhaled some water and vomited a little when I got to shore. I still don't really remember it that well."
Tashnick said he had so much adrenaline going after the wipeout that he had to paddle back out and catch a couple more waves. Again, evidence that he's wired a little differently than most.
Images of Tashnick's ride ran in all the major surf magazines and the video footage made it into a number of films. Sponsors came out of the woodwork and soon began bankrolling surf trips to some of the heaviest waves around the world. Tashnick has become a regular summertime pilgrim to the Mexican Pipeline at Puerto Escondido and makes multiple trips to Oahu's North Shore every winter.
When he was 19, Tashnick received his first invitation to compete in the Mav's contest, and validated his spot by making it to the finals and placing fourth. The next year, 2005, he beat out fellow young gun Greg Long in the final to become just the second Mav's champion at the time and the youngest surfer ever to win the big wave title.
In many ways, Tashnick's rapid success in the world of professional big wave surfing represents an accomplishment for all the previous generations of Santa Cruz big wave surfers. Tashnick credits much of his success to his elders who saw his potential at an early age, took him under their wing, and constantly pushed him to go big.
"Every guy has some little characteristic that stands out," Tashnick said of the Santa Cruz big wave pantheon. "One guy might have something that the other doesn't and vice versa. I've learned a little bit from so many people over the years, it's hard to pinpoint just one person."
Longtime Maverick's kingpin Peter Mel, who was Tashnick's tow-in surfing partner for a time, agreed.
"He's had a pretty good crew to look up to and show him the ropes," Mel said. "He's been able to take pieces from everyone and piece together what he wants to do. He's a little bit of Flea, a little of Barney's creativity, Peter Mel's determination, all these little pieces. He's been able to look at something and see how to find success"
Tashnick grew up on the Westside and began surfing when he was just 6. Like many Westside groms, he cut his teeth surfing big Middle Peak and competing in junior lifeguards competitions, where he earned national medals for paddleboard racing.
It was his instructor from junior guards, Mike Brummet, who spotted Tashnick's big wave potential and decided to push the kid to test himself at Maverick's.
"Brummy was the one calling my house, pulling me out of school and waking me up at 3 in the morning getting me psyched to go surf [Maverick's]," Tashnick said.
Under Brummet's watchful eye, Tashnick made the trip up to Maverick's and paddled out for his first two sessions. Tashnick recalled one of those first sessions at Mav's, when Brummet and fellow Westsider Ken "Skindog" Collins resorted to some peer pressure in order to get him into one of his first few waves.
"Skinny had anchored his ski out there in the channel and said I had to get a wave first before I could get a ride back in," Tashnick said. "There were just eight guys out, it was about 15 feet and I was in the bowl by myself so I went for it."
Collins said he could tell that Tashnick was looking for that extra push.
"I remember when he was 17 years old and we were pushing him into big waves at Puerto, I realized he had the potential to be a full-on big wave rider," said Collins, who will also be competing in the upcoming Maverick's contest. "I could tell he could handle it. I don't really think of him as a grom, I think of him as one the boys. But he has all the potential to be surfing big waves for the next 20 years."
All the support/abuse from his elders showed dividends when Tashnick won at Maverick's in 2005. The title changed his career forever, launching Tashnick into the upper echelon of big wave stardom. He has since been invited to compete in the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event held at Dungeons in South Africa, and he is on the alternates list for the prestigious Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave contest at Waimea Bay for the third year in a row.
"People kind of look at you differently," Tashnick said of the high profile that has followed him in the aftermath of his Maverick's title. "Being the underdog is cool because you feel like you have nothing to lose."
No longer an underdog at Maverick's, Tashnick's own hometown heroes and mentors will be aiming to take him out from the sound of the opening horn at this year's contest. His opening round heat with Grant Baker, Peter Mel, Tyler Smith, Darryl "Flea" Virostko, and Zach Wormhoudt is stacked. Virostko, Tashnick, and Baker are the sole three champions in the event's history, and Mel, Smith, and Wormhoudt have all placed in the top five multiple times.
"Every heat is stacked out there and everyone in that contest is gnarly," Tashnick said. "I'm not even thinking about the heat. You're surfing for yourself out there. As soon as you start trying to surf against someone, you're in trouble. I'm just going out trying to focus on getting two good waves and not get overwhelmed by surfing in the same event as my heroes."
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?storySection=Sports&sid=51889
Leo Maxam
Sentinel Correspondent
At 23, Anthony Tashnick is the youngest invitee to the Mavericks Surf Contest. With the average age of the surfers in the prestigious big-wave event hovering in the mid-to late 30s, it's only logical to assume that most young surfers lack the physical and mental maturity that comes from years of heavy water experience required to excel at a break of Maverick's caliber. Tashnick, however, possesses a different mind-set than your average young surfer.
Take, for example, the wave that first put him on the big wave radar back in the winter of 2001. In just his fourth session out at Mav's, a 16-year-old Tashnick found himself sitting outside of the pack on a clean, 25-foot day when the biggest set of the winter began marching in, threatening to catch everyone inside.
Where most groms -- or surfers of any age, for that matter -- would have been scratching for the horizon in an attempt to make it outside, Tashnick spun around and paddled as hard as he could to catch what he described as "the opportunity of a lifetime."
Sure enough, he dropped into the wave of the winter -- and subsequently received the pounding of his life when he reached the bottom and took a heaving section square on his shoulders.
"I got annihilated," Tashnick said. "My eyes couldn't focus for a few seconds when I first came up. There were more waves in the set and I took three on the head and got washed through the rocks. I inhaled some water and vomited a little when I got to shore. I still don't really remember it that well."
Tashnick said he had so much adrenaline going after the wipeout that he had to paddle back out and catch a couple more waves. Again, evidence that he's wired a little differently than most.
Images of Tashnick's ride ran in all the major surf magazines and the video footage made it into a number of films. Sponsors came out of the woodwork and soon began bankrolling surf trips to some of the heaviest waves around the world. Tashnick has become a regular summertime pilgrim to the Mexican Pipeline at Puerto Escondido and makes multiple trips to Oahu's North Shore every winter.
When he was 19, Tashnick received his first invitation to compete in the Mav's contest, and validated his spot by making it to the finals and placing fourth. The next year, 2005, he beat out fellow young gun Greg Long in the final to become just the second Mav's champion at the time and the youngest surfer ever to win the big wave title.
In many ways, Tashnick's rapid success in the world of professional big wave surfing represents an accomplishment for all the previous generations of Santa Cruz big wave surfers. Tashnick credits much of his success to his elders who saw his potential at an early age, took him under their wing, and constantly pushed him to go big.
"Every guy has some little characteristic that stands out," Tashnick said of the Santa Cruz big wave pantheon. "One guy might have something that the other doesn't and vice versa. I've learned a little bit from so many people over the years, it's hard to pinpoint just one person."
Longtime Maverick's kingpin Peter Mel, who was Tashnick's tow-in surfing partner for a time, agreed.
"He's had a pretty good crew to look up to and show him the ropes," Mel said. "He's been able to take pieces from everyone and piece together what he wants to do. He's a little bit of Flea, a little of Barney's creativity, Peter Mel's determination, all these little pieces. He's been able to look at something and see how to find success"
Tashnick grew up on the Westside and began surfing when he was just 6. Like many Westside groms, he cut his teeth surfing big Middle Peak and competing in junior lifeguards competitions, where he earned national medals for paddleboard racing.
It was his instructor from junior guards, Mike Brummet, who spotted Tashnick's big wave potential and decided to push the kid to test himself at Maverick's.
"Brummy was the one calling my house, pulling me out of school and waking me up at 3 in the morning getting me psyched to go surf [Maverick's]," Tashnick said.
Under Brummet's watchful eye, Tashnick made the trip up to Maverick's and paddled out for his first two sessions. Tashnick recalled one of those first sessions at Mav's, when Brummet and fellow Westsider Ken "Skindog" Collins resorted to some peer pressure in order to get him into one of his first few waves.
"Skinny had anchored his ski out there in the channel and said I had to get a wave first before I could get a ride back in," Tashnick said. "There were just eight guys out, it was about 15 feet and I was in the bowl by myself so I went for it."
Collins said he could tell that Tashnick was looking for that extra push.
"I remember when he was 17 years old and we were pushing him into big waves at Puerto, I realized he had the potential to be a full-on big wave rider," said Collins, who will also be competing in the upcoming Maverick's contest. "I could tell he could handle it. I don't really think of him as a grom, I think of him as one the boys. But he has all the potential to be surfing big waves for the next 20 years."
All the support/abuse from his elders showed dividends when Tashnick won at Maverick's in 2005. The title changed his career forever, launching Tashnick into the upper echelon of big wave stardom. He has since been invited to compete in the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event held at Dungeons in South Africa, and he is on the alternates list for the prestigious Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave contest at Waimea Bay for the third year in a row.
"People kind of look at you differently," Tashnick said of the high profile that has followed him in the aftermath of his Maverick's title. "Being the underdog is cool because you feel like you have nothing to lose."
No longer an underdog at Maverick's, Tashnick's own hometown heroes and mentors will be aiming to take him out from the sound of the opening horn at this year's contest. His opening round heat with Grant Baker, Peter Mel, Tyler Smith, Darryl "Flea" Virostko, and Zach Wormhoudt is stacked. Virostko, Tashnick, and Baker are the sole three champions in the event's history, and Mel, Smith, and Wormhoudt have all placed in the top five multiple times.
"Every heat is stacked out there and everyone in that contest is gnarly," Tashnick said. "I'm not even thinking about the heat. You're surfing for yourself out there. As soon as you start trying to surf against someone, you're in trouble. I'm just going out trying to focus on getting two good waves and not get overwhelmed by surfing in the same event as my heroes."
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?storySection=Sports&sid=51889