COMING SOON....THE CHRIS O'ROURKE STORY

THE CHRIS O'ROURKE STORY

Before Andy Irons.... Before Kelly Slater.... Before Tom Curren....
America once had a potential world surfing champion...who never got the chance.

In the 1970's the state of professional surfing in the United States was dark and dismal. On the horizon however, there flickered a glimmer of hope. By 1976 at the age of sixteen California's Chris O'Rourke had obliterated the competition and finished first in the WSA (Western Surfing Association) top rated 4A Men's division. Normally reserved for surfers eighteen years and older, O'Rourke had leapfrogged from the Boys to Men's division two years earlier, thus bypassing the Junior's division altogether. A competitive surfing genius, his surfing style was based on soul not flash.

But O'Rourke was also the young leader of surfing localism at his favorite hometown surf break known as Windansea beach in idyllic La Jolla. His strong tactics there were nearly as legendary as his tremendous surfing talent.

Nonetheless, Chris O'Rourke was truly poised for surf stardom in the United States at a time when professional surfing's early years were dominated by the Hawaiians, Australians, and South Africans. With nothing left to prove on a now disbanded American surfing circuit, O'Rourke ventured to Australia in early 1977 to begin competing on the IPS pro world surfing tour. He returned several weeks later to La Jolla only to learn he had been diagnosed with cancer, Namely Hodgkin's Disease.

For the next four years Chris O'Rourke put up a spirited fight against the disease which had invaded his body, not just living, but continuing to surf at a high level in professional competitions and inspiring surfers around the world for generations to come. It's an amazing story of how surfing kept one individual alive far longer than he ever should have lived.