The greatest shark story ever told, starring surfing's original wonder boy…
Once upon a time, before the ubiquitous robot we cradle in our hands and stare at, head down, lips pursed as if studying the Dead Sea Scrolls while we cross roads and walk into doors, there was such a thing as The Story.
No video, no photos.
Only words, memories, emotion.
In this interview, Wayne Lynch, the Victorian surfer who made his name by hunting lonely deep-water reefs, recalls the day he and another surfer were stalked by a Great White shark.
A shark, says Wayne, that first appeared like a submarine, silently coming out of the water head first and staring at him with its big black eyes.
Wayne said nothing to the guy, who had lost his own gun in a wipeout and who was clinging to the back of his board.
Two men on a red seven-six swallow-tail, and only one of ’em knows a Great White is slowly circling ’em.
“Every now and again, I can see the shark eight or nine feet away, swimming super slow, barely moving faster than us but in a circle. I’m looking down thinking, this is not good, this is really interesting.”
Wayne laughs.
“I figured it was more interested in John (the surfer he was rescuing) because he was tired. That’s why I put him at the back of the board. I figure, well, I’ll save you but I won’t die for you.”
Oh, Wayne puts you right there.
And, wait for the kicker at the end.