“He is the Duke Kahanamoku, Miki Dora, Tom Curren and Kelly Slater of his sport; its godfather figure, its most stylish practitioner and its greatest champion.”
The Oahu-based bodyboarding and bodysurfing legend Mike Stewart has confounded some of the biggest names of the sport after posting a clip of just one of his tube rides at a Brazilian wave pool.
Stewart, who is sixty and who has won the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic fourteen times and the bodyboarding world crown nine times, was filmed at Boa Vista Village, a planned community one-and-a-half hours from São Paulo, where a developer has built an American Wave Machines tank in the middle of three residential towers named Malibu, Laguna and Pebble.
For a million dollars or thereabouts, well-heeled surfers can buy their way into a private community built around a wave pool surfers are calling the “most high-performance wave in the world.”
And they ain’t wrong.
“Yesterday afternoon I got some of the longest bodysurfing barrels of my life, miles from the nearest ocean. Amazing times we live in,” wrote Stewart.
View this post on Instagram
Some of the best tuberiders in the world including Jamie O’Brien, Shane Dorian, Mark Healey and Kai Lenny, were too quick to praise Stewart although the best response, amid the sea of fire emojis was one fan who wrote, “Protect Mike at all costs. We should be making statues of this man”.
As Dan Dob wrote on BeachGrit a few years back,
So true!
And, for added kink, Stewart was the first man I interviewed when I got a job in the surf mag biz and I still remember when he walked into my little office, shook hands with me very warmly and said, “I am very glad to see you, we have not met I think!
I wrote, from memory, “He has a clear head, a good heart, a generous nature and great bodyboarding powers. Altogether a first-class man.”
Turtles
It’s fucking Mike Stewart.
I’m sick of your stupid click bait full paragraph headlines. But this was the last straw.
It’s Mike Stewart!!
The best that ever did it. Respected by all.
Except you apparently.
I like Mike!
Mike Stewart is to surfing as Ian MacKaye is to punk rock
cheehoo … Mike baldysurfing
The man is an absolute myth. A marine creature.
Chuck,
I’m a bit miffed by the title words “…..LAYS CLAIM TO LONGEST BARREL EVER BY A BODYSURFER”
Where is this diatribe does Mr Stewart make this claim? I do see a reference to “…some of the longest bodysurfing barrels of my life…”, keywords there being “some of the longest” and “my life”. Absolutely nowhere does this gentleman claim longest ever. Very disappointed Charles.
cc: DR
OOOPS! Too used to those errors from Charles.
And it’s a semantic thing, his action lays claim to world’s longest bodysurfing barrel, not he claims world’s longest bodysurfing barrel. A tightrope one must walk while chasing clicks to keep the lights on, the fire burning, the tranny porn membership current etc.
Damn Charlie. If I told him once I told him etc.
I could do that on a right…
Mike is living proof
That an ancient single fin
Can hug the pocket
Phallic technology
forehead ballast…
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/734U…
with or w/o front ballast? that is the question~
https://www.longitude-engin…
Nice to have you home Ed.
Great headline
topic is hairline’s!
This man has more tuberiding knowledge than any person ever, alive or dead. Because boggie boarding has been so vilified by the surf comunity for so many years is the reason the kids thinks its cool again.
It’s cool because it never sold out
Remember the early 90’s? They tried, cant sell out if there’s no market.
Actually, it sold out back in the 80’s when it was sold to Kransco, Mattel, Wham-O. Since then, they got nothing to sell. It was never cool to begin with and reserved for those who wouldn’t or couldn’t surf. The exception has always been Hawaii, Wedge, and a few other nearly impossible waves to surf. You could say those guys didn’t sell out but they have always been a bit underground and, again, nothing to sell. The current resurgence in interest is likely due to boredom and the fact that surfing is so fucking crowded it can be much more enjoyable to dick drag on a closeout or bodysurf than it is to grovel in shitty waves with a bunch of assholes.
This tripe may be the worst comment I have ever seen on a surfing website. Here in southern Australia we have slabs that regularly break around 10 to 15 feet Hawaiian without a standup surfer in sight usually only dudes on boogs and just some tow guys riding the shoulder on a side note can we agree tow surfers are at the bottom of the surfing totem pole for obvious reasons as it’s more like water skiing than surfing.
Some of these waves are only boogable most guys I know ride boogs and standup Mitch Rawlins is the most famous boog who rides shortboards when waves suit. Here in Vicco in non La Nina years we have endless large swells during winter with many many heaving slabs that are closely guarded secrets.
I know your not surfing 15 foot slabs on dry reef but these guys are without sponsors without videographers no vlogs on YouTube just hard charging underground rippers who fly in from around the country paying their own way doing it for the love of the sport which is a huge difference between booging and surfing.
I wish I focused solely on booging the community is way cooler people aren’t arrogant and they don’t under any circumstances tell people where these waves are it’s invite only.
All slab waves in Oz were pioneered by lidders standups then come in mark their territory like feral dogs and start shit Ours is a perfect example boogers had been riding that wave for over 20 years before it was whored out by surfers for monetary gain in fact the bra boys actually tried that shit down here at one of our slabs but had guns pulled on them we don’t fuck around down here and much to the surprise of city folk in Australia everyone has guns down here be respectful and come only if invited.
I love to booger thick slabs too
Can you read?
Saw him at Maili Point back in the day, thickest pidgin i’ve ever heard!
The barrell roll is the cherry on the cake.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
I wish I could read the damn article, this is with AdBlock plus cranked all the way up! “Ad Covered Content” option doesn’t do shit Google!
Use a different web browser. I use Brave and have never seen an Ad. Sorry BG
No need to apologise! Do what you gotta do.
You could always try clicking that little “x” in the upper middle of the screen. It absolutely amazing what happens once you press it.
I think bodysurfing my option after boards – can’t see myself going to mals!!
Pools would be a sick body surf option with possibly a $6-10K Gucci coffee table handsurfer
The thing with going both the boogie and than the body is it’s a clear finger to the longboard brigades .
It’s my plan to exit stage tubed
had the same epiphany after surfing “the lighthouse” few years back! February NE swell at size, Tons of current,+/- 40 water temp… Got smoked in three attempts/drifts and saw stars after one of the beatings. Aging out of taking off under the lip! Imagined traveling the world hunting tubes.. and not worried about surfboards!
I’m not gay, but Mike could make my face pregnant any day of the week
Xox
FACT: the word “bodyboarding” was created by professional boogie boarders so that they didn’t have to be referred to as a “Professional Booger”
True!
Fact , boogie boarders have not sold out.
They would if they could. No one’s buying.