Martin Potter | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Nickname | Pottz |
Born | Blyth, Northumberland, England | 28 October 1965
Residence | Rye, Victoria, Australia |
Surfing career | |
Best year | Ranked 1st on the ASP World Tour, 1989 |
Sponsors | Astrodek |
Major achievements | ASP World Champion in 1989 |
Surfing specifications | |
Stance | Regular (natural foot) |
Martin "Pottz" Potter (born 28 October 1965 in Blyth, Northumberland, England), is a former professional surfer.
Potter's parents emigrated to Durban, South Africa when he was two years old. He began surfing off the beaches of his hometown Durban at age 10. By the age of 15, he was surfing 20+ foot waves at the Banzai Pipeline surf break on Hawaii's North Shore. At the time, he was using the assistance of a jet-ski to 'tow-in' to the wave as an alternative to paddling. This pre-dated modern tow-in surfing and can help lay claim to Potter being one of 'tow-in' surfings pioneers. In his late teens his parents moved back to the UK to live. During this period Potter was competing on the surfing world tour.
He became a pro in 1981 and In 1989 after claiming 6 tour victories from 25 events he became "World Surfing Champion". This would come fourteen years after learning to stand on a surfboard.
'Pottz' redefined competitive surfing through performing technically high-risk moves such as aerials (where a surfer is able to use the energy of a wave to launch themselves free of it together with their surfboard, and to land back down onto the water and continue on) and 360's (the surfer and surfboard rotate on a wave 360 degrees before continuing on), which were previously only performed in the domain of free surfing (as opposed to competitively). He was also responsible for the invention of several surfing maneuvers such as the "rock-n-roll" (the same as performed on a skateboard).
From his success as a world champion, he led the call for a new form of competitive surfing; a judging format based on "risky surfing" - i.e. higher scoring being given to bigger and more critical maneuvering - which eventually became an accepted standard on what is now known as the World Championship Tour (WCT). Pottz is a commentator for the WSL world tour. [1]
Potter lives in Australia on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, with his wife and two children. [2] [3] [4]
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer, uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or wave pools.
Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as Boogieboarding due to the invention of the "Boogie Board" by Tom Morey in 1971. The average bodyboard consists of a short, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. Bodyboarders typically use swim fins for additional propulsion and control while riding a breaking wave.
Mark Richards, known as MR, is an Australian surfer who became a four-time world champion (1979–1982).
Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, and holds 56 Championship Tour victories. He won the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year four-times. Slater is also the oldest surfer still active on the World Surf League, winning his 8th Billabong Pipeline Masters title at age 49.
Laird John Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.
Philip Andrew Irons was an American professional surfer. Irons began surfing with his brother Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfboard brand and flown to North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, to compete and develop his skill.
Thomas Roland Curren is an American former professional surfer, known for being the first American to win the World Surf League Title. He secured three World Titles in 1985, 1986, and 1990, and achieved 33 event wins in his career, the second most of all time, surpassed only by Kelly Slater. Curren is celebrated for his competitive drive and distinctive surfing style. He retired from competitive surfing in the mid-1990s.
Noseriding is the act of riding the front end of a surfboard. It is one of the most accomplished maneuvers in surfing. Some advanced maneuvers include: hang ten toes, hang five toes, stretch-five, front foot/heel hang, and back foot/heel hang. Noseriding is a functional maneuvers best performed on waves around head high or less in size. Noseriding is performed mainly on noserider-style surfboards, which are generally 275 cm (9 ft) or more in length, with larger surface area and higher water displacement to provide a more stable walking surface.
Skurfing is a towed water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat on a tow rope. The sport uses a skurfboard, which is a floating platform the user balances on, similar to a surfboard but typically much shorter, with two foot-straps that prevent falling off the board and three fins positioned on the bottom that make it easier to maneuver when the board is being towed. The word itself is a portmanteau of skiing and surfing. Skurfing is often considered the precursor to wakeboarding.
Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a rider trails behind a boat, riding the boat's wake without being directly pulled by the boat. After getting up on the wake, typically by use of a tow rope, the wakesurfers will drop the rope, and ride the steep face below the wave's peak in a fashion reminiscent of surfing. Wakesurfers generally use special boards, designed specifically for wakes.
Joel Parkinson is an Australian surfer who used to compete on the WSL. After twelve years competing at the elite level on the ASP World Championship Tour, a stretch that saw him win eleven elite ASP World Title Events, plus nine additional ASP tour events, and achieve runner-up second place to the ASP World Title four times, Parkinson won the ASP World Championship Tour Surfing Title on 14 December 2012 in Hawaii at the Banzai Pipeline during the ASP World Tours' final event for 2012–the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Parkinson hung on in a back and forth battle with eleven-time ASP World Title holder, Kelly Slater, to get his first World Title, as well as go on to win the Pipeline Masters, only after Slater lost his semi-final heat to Josh Kerr, of Queensland, Australia. Parkinson beat Kerr in the finals of the event, which was his seventh top-five placing for the year, and his first event title win for 2012. Parkinson left the World Tour and left a legacy of a beautiful and powerful surfing.
Dane Reynolds is an American professional surfer from Ventura, California. He is known for his "go for broke" style of surfing that includes many experimental and aerial maneuvers.
Taylor Knox is an American professional surfer.
Peter Townend, also known as PT, is an Australian surfer and first IPS/ASP World Surfing Champion.
Gary Elkerton, known as Kong is an Australian surfer, three time world masters champion, three time world professional runner-up, twice Hawaiian Triple Crown champion and Australian amateur champion (1984). He is regarded as an iconic big-wave rider and is highly respected by his peers for his unique, powerful surfing style. In 2009, Gary was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.
Sean Mattison is an American former professional surfer and current professional surf coach, known mostly for designing "The Nubster", a fifth surfboard fin. Mattison is also the designer of his own alternative high performance surfboards and surfboard fins named Von-Sol.
Adriano "Mineirinho" de Souza is a Brazilian professional surfer and also the 2015 WSL World Champion. He has been competing on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2005.
Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer. He won the 2014, 2018 and 2021 WSL World Championships. In two appearances at the Olympic surfing tournament, Medina won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Barton Lynch is an Australian former professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. In 1988, he was crowned ASP World Tour Champion. He also won the 1991 Rip Curl Pro. In 1998, he was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame, and in 2000, he was inducted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame. The video game Barton Lynch Pro Surfing is named after Lynch.