At the Hurley Pro Trestles, Shaun Tomson and a handful of his peers, including Mike Ho, Rabbit Bartholomew, Simon Anderson, and Cheyne Horan, took to the lineup for a heritage heat. Far from being the patronising spectacle it could've become, each invitee surfed wonderfully and the surfing world took stock of what it’s like to age and surf gracefully into your later years.

The standout was undoubtedly Shaun Tomson whose surfing was loose, fluid, and radical. At 60-years old Shaun was inspired and inspiring, and his performance amazed everyone who saw it.

Craig Jarvis sat down with Shaun to find out the secret to ripping into your sixties, and he found out that it’s not just about adding volume to your boards, as many people think.

Swellnet: Surfing is a physical and mental challenge. What is the biggest challenge to keep surfing? 
Shaun Tomson: As you get older the biggest challenge is simply finding the time; family and career just become more important and the reality is that surfing moves from being tied first with family to third place. That reality doesn't mean that I love surfing any less, or want to go surfing any less, it just means that the time I spend in the water is more valuable and meaningful than when I had endless time and endless opportunities to catch that next wave.

For me there is no mental challenge to keep surfing - the fire of desire to ride waves burns deep inside me. Whenever I paddle out towards that open expanse of possibilities I feel challenged to be the best I can be, to push it as hard as I can.

You are obviously extremely passionate about surfing, and everything you do in your life. How do you keep the passion alive in your spirit?
For me the word is stoked and there is a dividing line between all surfers: stoked or unstoked. You have it or you don't. I've been stoked pretty much since my first wave at the Bay of Plenty in 1965. However I lost my stoke twice in my life - it was wiped clean out of me - when my Dad died in 1981 and when my son Mathew died in 2006. The fire was extinguished by despair but eventually got relit.

A pal took me surfing about six weeks after I lost my beautiful boy to a spot I hadn't surfed before. I paddled out into the Indian Ocean as the sun was coming up and got a few waves. It was a hard time and it didn't feel right to be surfing when my boy was gone. I asked my pal the name of the break - it was Sunrise.

That moment started me back on the road to healing. Surfing was there for me when I needed it and today it is the same way. Maybe I can't get out as much as I want to, but when I really need surfing I know it will always be there for me.

Sometimes in life things become very, very tough. Do you have a mantra to takes you back to the ocean regardless of what life throws at you?
A number of years ago I wrote a book called Surfer's Code that became quite popular. It was derived from a twelve-line card I wrote for a group of kids that were coming down to an environmental surf contest at Rincon. Every line on my Surfer's Code card begins with "I will" and those two words reflects my fundamental commitment to surfing, now and in the future.

I like all twelve lines I wrote and each line has special significance, but the first two words of every line sum up my relationship with surfing. When I think of surfing I think about those words "I will", representing action to be taken now, to realise the future, about paddling out for my next wave, about committing absolutely to that future, through mental force that is powered by my stoke.

You are in excellent shape! How do you look after your body?
A million people die every year in the USA through poor choices primarily tied to consumption of poisonous foods and beverages and inactivity: cigarettes, alcohol, dope, unhealthy foods, and sloth. It is an epidemic of poor choices fuelled by the marketing of large multinational food and beverage corporations. I don't smoke, don't dope because it’s for dopes, eat well, drink alcohol in moderation and surf - that is enough for me. Governments across the globe should be focusing their efforts on the food terrorists that are destroying the health of society.

As mentioned earlier, surfing is very much a mental game as well as a physical endeavor. Powerful imagination makes for good surfing. How do you keep your imagination alive when surfing these days?
There is a lot of talk today about mindfulness, about meditation, about being in the absolute moment and letting your mind wander free while breathing rhythmically. As surfers we are the absolute unacknowledged experts of this process. Most of our time in a surf session is time spent not surfing, and in a meditative process. We sit and wait for waves, facing that endless horizon, thinking and meditating without being aware of it. We are in the clear open air, drifting on the rhythm of the ocean, feeling that wave energy as the tide moves in and out and the waves ebb and flow.

Then when we catch our quick rides we are absolutely in the moment in an alpha state. How many times have we all kicked out of an amazing wave with only a dim remembrance of what actually happened? Then there is the paddle back to the line up for the next wave: rhythmical strokes, left arm, right arm, rhythmical breathing, not just a mental mantra of repetition but a physical one too.

Many years ago I created a surfing brand called Instinct. I called it that because the best moments in surfing, the best tubes occur when you operate on Instinct, and one of my first ads had the line "Pure thought, perfect action." Surfing always stimulated me to think, to be imaginative and be aware and be mindful.

Perhaps my favorite words associated with Instinct on my first business card were "Instinct - The inner rhythm". Surfing has a rhythm and we live by a rhythm too, sixty beats a minute, and when I think of the best tubes of my life, when I felt I could curve the wall to my will, when I was in supreme control of mind, body and external space, I think of being in perfect rhythm, of my inner rhythm perfectly matching that of the curving, tumbling wall. Surfing still gives me that awareness of my internal rhythm being connected with the rhythm of the ocean, and by connecting me to the ocean, makes me more harmoniously connected to my family and life. 

Then there is the equipment. Whatever you were riding recently, it really seemed to work.
Surfing also keeps my mind alive when it comes to designing new boards. At 60 I can't ride what Mick, Jordy, Kelly and the boys ride, I have had to redesign my boards especially for me and that has been a lot of fun over the last few years - how to maximize performance while still being able to catch waves. I have straightened forward rockers, gone back to 70s-style nose beaks to keep volume as you are pushing over the edge, and kept thickness forward to also help catch waves.

Surfing still occupies an important place in my psyche - I still dream about going surfing. How about that?! At 60 I'm still dreaming and thinking about that next wave...

The biggest question in this world of obesity. What is the trick to keeping fit and slim?
Staying slim and keeping fit should be by-products of connecting with a physical activity you are stoked about. I have seldom ventured into the sweaty confines of a gym. I've always hated that word representing physical activity: 'work-out'.

For me there is no connection between surfing and work - I never saw a surf session that way. Discipline and commitment, yes, but no regimented physical program was ever on my agenda.

Even when I was a pro I never 'trained' in the conventional sense. I surfed more that anyone on the planet when I was on tour from 1975 to 1989, not because I wanted to be the best, but because I was more stoked, which through the thousands of hours in the surf, ultimately lead me to being the best I could be. 

Thank you very much Shaun, for the ongoing inspiration and for setting such a great example on how one should try to live one’s life. As you said in your book: No short cuts.

Check the photos and video from Shaun's performance at Trestles.