Come and be accidentally and totally seriously inspired!
I was made aware of this story last week but somehow, between making fun of Stab, making fun of The Inertia and even dusting off ol’ Paul Speaker and making fun of him, it fell through the cracks. For this, I am deeply sorry. Rip-Current Rory exhibits the can-do spirit, the anti-depressive joie de vivre for which BeachGrit is known around the world.
You recall the basics. A young Scottish man (henceforth known as Rip-Current Rory) went for a surf at his home break. He was caught in a rip-current and pulled all the way to Ireland, spending many hours clinging to his yellowed board in the freezing seas and pondering death. Eventually he was saved and he vowed never to surf again, such wonderful advice for every surfer except for you and for me.
Later, he caveated his “never surf again” pledge by saying he would only go surfing IF he was with a large group, wearing a GPS tracking device and having someone waiting for him on the beach.
The good people at Surf Snowdonia, Wales’ most famous wave which also happens to break in a swimming pool, thought, “What if we invite the young man here? The farthest he could get pulled would be Cardiff and that’s only if he hopped a cab…”
Well, miracle beyond miracle, Rip-Current Rory accepted their offer! How was his time? Let’s turn to Welsh News Now:
When asked how his first experience back in the water was, Mr Bryce describes it as “fun”. “Nothing’s changed, it’s still surfing and that’s something I’ve been enjoying for four years,” he says.”What happened was because I was reckless. I went out on my own, it was poor planning, there was bad conditions – it was frankly just reckless.
“This is safe – I’m with people, it’s not in the open sea. There’s no reason to be scared of it because it’s like a pool.
Changing his tune, Mr Bryce now sees the pool as the first step in his road back to the ocean. “That will be with people, in safe conditions and it’s just going to be building it back up,” he says. “I could never go back into the sea on my own. That’s not changed, I could never do that. One, it’s unsafe, people shouldn’t be doing it anyway.
“And two, it’s terrifying. It would be terrifying for me to do that. Whereas this in the sea with friends, I think will be fine.”
Wipe those tears and watch:
Wow. I was still in making fun mood but now I feel like a complete asshole. That was, very seriously, the most inspirational surf short I’ve maybe ever seen. I’ve tried to cut out all the soft spots in my heart but, damn it, Rip-Current Rory got me good.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this guy and a few hundred off his self described intermediate mates polluting the breaks of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. If you can’t get to your feet and trim the Snowdonia pool on a foam longboard after “years” of surfing you probably should give up!
Serious question Chas…How do ya reckon this guy would go in the Slater wave pool? Maybe fall and get injured? Old injuries might see him slip up eh???
Is there a second part to the video where he’s sucked into the pier and mauled to death by the sled? Because if that’s the case he should have trusted his first instincts.
I wish he still had the circle face tan permanently etched on 6 months later.
Stoke AND Leisure.
Thing is with surfing is that in many ways it’s not very ‘leisurely.’ Lots paddling in between underwater drubbings. Depending on your particular break and level of fitness, of course.
The worst day surfing still beats the best day at work!
“Aren’t you the guy who used to write advertising copy for Billabong?”
Don’t blame me for their demise!
Really? What about this guy’s worst day surfing? Your job must totally blow Nik Karol to wish yourself hopelessly adrift in a freezing sea 🙂
Technically, he wasn’t surfing, he was fucking dying
Touche Nik Karol. So sorry that I doubted you – will take the rest of today to reflect on not letting that happen again.
In other news today, “The Ocean is Dead. Long live Swimming Pools!” WSL CEO Sophie Goldschmidt.
Hard to believe she hasn’t been sexually harassed yet.
Being the CEO, wouldn’t she be the one doing the harassing?
Dude this is a woman who ran English Rugby. If you want to sexually harass her, go right ahead. Just make sure you have a buddy there to pick up the pieces.
He’s all upbeat now, but just wait till he hits that intermediate plateau.
We’re all just a bunch of god damn blue belts
I’m not sure you’re allowed to reference martial arts or BJJ in the context of surfing unless you’ve cleared the statement with Joel Tudor.