Sea, Sail & Surf newsASP
Mark Occhilupo retires
2005 Surfing Season to be Occy’s Final Chapter
mercredi 16 février 2005 –
The legendary surfing career of Australia’s Mark Occhilupo that to this day captivates the imagination of the surfing world has entered its final chapter. The powerful goofy footer known simply as "Occy" has today announced that the 2005 season will be his last year of professionally competing full-time on the Foster’s Men’s World Tour.
- Mark Occhilupo (Aus) was an unfortunate loss to the Quiksilver Pro France 2004. ’Occy’ was defeated by countryman Luke Hitchings in round two.
- Photo : P.Tostee / ASP / Tostee.com
After 22 years, 21 career victories and a coveted 1999 world title, which he won 16 years after first stepping onto the ASP tour at the age of fifteen, the incredulous "Raging Bull" has decided its time.
"I have had a great career. I’ve done all the things from when I was a grommet that I’ve wanted to do that’s why I’m calling 2005 my last year. I want to leave on a high note. I feel like I could probably keep on going for a few more years but I want to finish my career surfing as good as I can, and I feel as I am at that stage right now. I don’t want to be going at about 50% and just making up the numbers."
"I want to show that you shouldn’t drag it out - you should go out with a bang, and my surfing is good enough at the moment to do that. I will be 39 this year and 40, next year so I just feel like it is a good time."
The 38-year-olds much publicized life has inspired three generations of surfers, no part more than his physical and mental resurrection from out of the shadows to win the 1999 World Championship Tour. Born and raised in Kurnell, Sydney and now living on the Gold Coast with his beautiful wife Mae and toddler son Jay, Occy shot to the top of the ASP rankings as a 17-year-old and set performance standards that to this day have yet to be matched.
He finished the tour third, fourth and third respectively through 1984, ’85 and ’86 and a world title looked assured but his interest waned and in 1987 he walked away from pro surfing in a state of despair, ranked 9th. Throughout his non competitive years Billabong stood by Occy with Billabong founder Gordon Merchant the staunchest of supporters.
“The year Occy turned sixteen he insisted Billabong send him to try and qualify for the world professional surfing tour. I tried really hard to talk Occy out of going because he was so young and the tour in those days consisted of twenty five events and was extremely grueling,” said Merchant. “Consequently by the time Occy turned twenty he was burnt out and lost interest in professional surfing. Why I personally backed Occy through this period of his life was because I knew the whole scenario and knew he needed a time out to reassess his life. There was no doubting his ability or determination once he was focused, he just needed someone to believe in him and give him that time.”
In 1995, with the support of Merchant and legend surf Surf #Surf film-maker Jack McCoy, Occy was granted a slot in the inaugural Billabong Challenge, a break-away competition where eight of the world best surfers were invited to do battle at a remote left hander in Australia’s desolate North West. Displaying his powerful forehand attack at one of the heaviest waves in Australia Occy proved to the delight of his peers Kelly Slater, Sunny Garcia and Rob Machado that he was back.
Occy then took his come-back to the epicenter of world surfing turning up in Hawaii to compete in the 1995 Pipeline Trials. Looking fit and focused he surfed through 11 heats to the main event final against Slater, finishing second to the former six times world champion. That amazing feat was achieved with the sheer surfing brilliance that still epitomizes Occhilupo.
After two years on the WQS a triumphant Occy qualified for the 1997 World Championship Tour (WCT). In his first full WCT season in over a decade Occy finished runner-up to Slater and then went onto achieve his world title dream two years later.
“Winning my world title in ’99 was paramount to my whole career, it was such a sanctifying feeling, coming back and achieving that, and I have been riding high on that ever since, it’s 2005 now and I’m still going,” said Occhilupo. “After my world title win, I have been right up there competing in the top 10, and I’ve just been riding on that high, it’s what’s kept me going.”
“From the first stage of my career to the second stage, it was just all time, so fantastic, and I am just really looking forward to this year.”
Loved for the powerful and pure lines he draws in the water and comedic antics on land the true surfing icon is the third longest employee of Billabong, the longest-serving team surfer and an integral part of the world’s best surfing team. He will be sorely missed on the world tour but will still be appearing as a WCT wildcard at some of his favourite locations.
“Billabong, already have got me doing some really great ventures and I am looking forward to spending more time with my family,” said Occy. “I am looking forward to doing a few wildcards next year for Billabong, at Jeffreys Bay and Mundaka, my two specialty events, so I won’t be totally gone.”
“I’ve got Jay and Mae, and we’re bringing up a family, with hopefully some more on the way and I am looking forward to just settling down a bit.”
- Mark Occhilupo with his wife Mae and son Jay
- He announced his retirement from professional surfing in 2006 during a press conference at the Billabong Headquarters on the Gold Coast of Australia. Photo K.Wilson / Tostee / ASP
Occy’s interview
Q. What do you hope to achieve in your final year on tour ?
A. “Well anything is possible you know, I have been training really hard and
we have had a great run of surf here on the Gold Coast over the last month
and I am feeling really fit. I don’t want to make any wild claims but
anything is possible and a want to finish with a good strong year.”
Q. What will you miss most about life on tour ?
A. “I will miss a lot about life on tour, just looking at the results and
the waves that they were in, and just thinking, jeeze I could have done well
there I will really miss going to Hawaii and getting to compete in the
Triple Crown, it’s a big thing, and I never even got to win a Triple Crown,
but I have still got one year left, so hopefully I’ll get one.”
Q. What will you miss least about life on tour ?
A.“Well, I won’t be missing home, and I wont miss traveling on airplanes and
living out of a suitcase. I certainly won’t miss packing up the show each
week to get to the next spot.”
Q. Who would you like to thank, who has really influenced your surfing
career ?
A. “I really like to thank Gordon Merchant, he started my career off and we
used to travel together and put a lot of smart information in my head.
Gordon sponsored me obviously and bought me a ticket on tour when I didn’t
have a lot of good results or anything. He gave me the start up and then
really helped me along the way.”
Q. Who do you like for the next couple of years ?
A. “A little inside tip would be Joel, but I think that Andy is going to be
really hard to beat to. I think that Taj could give it a good go.
Q. So what do you think about Jay, do you think he’s got potential ?
A. “He’s got potential for sure, and he will tell you too. I’m not going to
push Jay though, he is nearly two now and he loves the water. But we are
only just teaching him to swim. We take him in the water and he gets
dumped, but he hasn’t been dumped too bad yet.”
“He has already worked out that I surf, because every time he sees me on the telly he says daddy daddy, and when we pull up to the surf he say’s daddy daddy. In Hawaii this year, one morning was completely massive and he was like, daddy daddy, your out there, I was like hang on mate, hang on. So he knows what I do and I’m sure he will want to be a surfer but I don’t want to push him into it too quick.”
Q. So is he a Goofy or a Natural ?
A. “I think he could be a natural, but I don’t want to say yet”
Gordon Merchant interview
Q. What first attracted to you to sponsoring Occy ?
A. I was just one of things. I was in Sydney showing the new Billabong
collection to Mark Aprilovic in his shop at Cronulla. Mark turned to me and
said he had someone he wanted me to meet and out from behind the counter
came a small fourteen year old boy Mark introduced as Occy. Mark said that
Occy was one of the hottest kids in the Cronulla area and would I be willing
to sponsor him and I said I would. I didn’t hear much about Occy till the
following year when he got third in the Beaurepaires contest.
Q. How much of a part did Occy play in establishing Billabong especially in
the USA ?
A. Occy was instrumental in helping Bob Hurley get Billabong established in
the USA. Occy’s back to back wins in the 1985 and 1986 Huntington Beach
WCT’s, competing against Tom Curren in both finals and wining was legendary.
Q. If you had to pick one thing that was his legacy to surfing - what would
it be ?
A. Occy’s ability to surf like most, mortal surfers just dream about.
Q, What was Occy like to watch at J-Bay ?
A.The time I remember most was the first time Occy surfed Cheron’s Country
Feeling contest at J-Bay. Occy surfed with such speed and power he
definitely redefined backhand surfing from that point on.
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