Mark Foo

Mark Foo (born Mark Sheldon Foo on February 5, 1958 – December 23, 1994) was a professional surfer.

Life and career

Born in Singapore to a Chinese photojournalist for the U.S. Information Agency he relocated to Hawaii at age 4. Foo spent his early childhood surfing the South Shore of O'ahu. His family moved several times during his adolescence, but Foo ultimately returned to Hawaii just before finishing high school. He continued surfing throughout his teen years and in 1977 he joined a professional surfing tour, the IPS World Tour. In the early 1980s, Foo quit the IPS World Tour, stopped competing, and began surfing Waimea Bay, a famous big wave surfing spot on the North Shore of O'ahu. Foo's passion for surfing big waves led him to surf larger and larger swells.

Death

On December 23, 1994, Mark Foo died in a surfing accident at Mavericks, a big wave break off the coast of Northern California. During take-off on an 18 foot wave, Foo experienced a seemingly innocuous wipeout which resulted in his drowning. The most popular presumption is that Foo's surf leash had become entangled on the rocks, with the rushing currents of a second wave passing overhead preventing him disengaging his ankle strap and getting to the surface. This theory was further validated when a surfer who wiped on the following wave said that he came into contact with something, possibly Foo, as he was tumbled around underwater. His body was discovered still tied to the broken tail section of his board, inside the Pillar Point lagoon, over two hours after he's gone down on that fateful wave. Foo's death shook the big wave surfing community, as one of its pioneers had died. On December 30th, over 700 people arrived at Waimea Bay in Hawaii for Mark's funeral. Approximately 150 surfers paddled into the Bay and formed a large circle. One of the participants, who was carrying a container with Foo's ashes, paddled into the center of the circle and placed the ashes into the ocean.

Legacy

Foo helped elevate the popularity of the sport, with his talent, courage, and enthusiasm, and was certainly recognized as one of the greatest big-wave surfers to ever ride the waves. Mark was a favorite subject of photographers, and he had his own cable television surfing program. "If you want to ride the ultimate wave, you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price" was Foo's philosophy, which he certainly lived until the day of his final ride.

Stealing the Wave

The epic battle between Foo and Ken Bradshaw in the 1980s is chronicled in Stealing the Wave by Andy Martin (Bloomsbury Publishing).

See also

• Eddie Aikau

References

• Andy Martin: Stealing the Wave, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN-10: 0747582262
• Matt Warshaw: Maverick's: the story of big-wave surfing, Chronicle Books, ISBN 0-8118-2652-X

External links

• Mark Foo's Last Ride
• Mark Foo Bio
• Obituary