“Life is short” Tributes pour in for Shane Dorian after near-fatal wipeout

"I was surfing a heavy wave here in Indonesia, went over the falls, hit the reef incredibly hard on my head."

The world’s sexist over-50, surfer Shane Dorian, has revealed his days on this precious orbiting ball were nearly ended recently when he wiped out during a vacation to Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands.

Dorian, fifty-four but presenting as younger, 52 maybe, has appeared in these pages regularly for his advice to older men suddenly struck with the decline of their surfing.

Two weeks ago, Dorian taught the joys of men hip-gaping.

To lose Mr Dorian, therefore, a man whose breasts are so firm they prop up his wetsuit jacket as if it contained two apples, would be a tragedy on multi levels.

As he explained to his myriad fans,

Life update. Little something different today.

I have four staples in the back of my head — I don’t know if you can see them. I ran into the reef. I was surfing a heavy wave here in Indonesia, went over the falls, hit the reef incredibly hard on my head, and also trashed my shoulder with a bunch of scrapes — really deep, kind of hamburger cuts. So long story short, I’m out of the water for the next seven days and focusing on other things.

The other things he refers to is the importance of a strong as hell body to withstand the blows.

Anyway, it got me reflecting on last year, when I was here in Indonesia and surfed pretty much every day. I was surfing pretty good, but I was only surfing once a day.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Surf Longevity™ by Shane Dorian (@doriancoreperformance)

This year has been really different. For those who follow this page, you’ll know I was doing a six-week ramp-up of surf conditioning. What that looked like exactly: a lot of cardiovascular work, VO2 max training. I was doing rotational work — spine stability training. I was also strengthening my back, my mid back and lower back, the muscles that hold you up as you’re paddling. I worked hard to get those a lot stronger, and it paid off.

I’ve been here for over a month, and for most of that month the waves have been a mixed bag but really fun. Most days I surfed twice a day — two to two and a half hours in the morning, the same in the afternoon — then some mobility work that night, and I’d go again the next day, same thing. Back-to-back days of double sessions. There’s no chance I could have done that last year. The big difference for me was training.

So I guess my message is: if you’re 18 years old and you surf every day, disregard this message completely — it’s not for you. If you’re not 18, if you live somewhere the waves aren’t that good, if you’re busy with kids or your career and can’t surf five days a week — this message is for you. And if you have an important surf trip you’re working toward and saving for, make that trip a whole lot better by training for it.

Remember, added Shane Dorian, Life is short.

Do you think life is short or is it dragging on a little too much for you?