TOM
CARROLL

In 1985, Tom Carroll took a personal stance against South Africa's policy of apartheid and refused to participate in contestshosted there, contributing to the loss of his title to Curren. Carroll's boycott established him as a freethinking leader, and this inspired other pros to join his cause. By the late '80s, while fighting to reclaim his lost title, Carroll became the undisputed master of competitive surfing in Hawaii. His ascendancy at Pipeline, from finalist in his first attempt in 1979 to the first three-time Pipe Masters champion, bridged the gap between Gerry Lopez and Kelly Slater. In 1988, Carroll earned surfing's first million-dollar contract with longtime backer Quiksilver. In 1991, on a ride in perfect 8’ to 12’ surf, he executed the most committed late drop and the heaviest under-the-lip snap in history to stamp his supremacy on the wave. Carroll's performances were equally dominant at Sunset, Haleiwa, Rockpile and later along Hawaii's outer reefs. Carroll won the Surfer Magazine Reader’s Poll Award in 1984. He was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in 1990, won the Australia's Surfing Life Peer Poll in 1991, and was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame in 1999. Surfer Magazine ranked Carroll #7 in their 2010 "Greatest Surfers of All Time" feature. In the '00s, Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones became tow-surfer partners, and charged some of the biggest, thickest waves ever ridden in Australia. Carroll also became a first-rate stand-up paddleboard rider. This was Tom Carroll’s Pipeline board, shaped by Pat Rawson, Best known for his mid-length guns produced for the heavy Hawaiian surf.

This board is on loan from the Spencer Croul Collection.
Portrait photo © Craig Fineman