A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Friendly, lightning-fast regularfoot pro surfer from Yallingup, Western Australia; world-ranked #2 in 1999 and 2007. Burrow was born (1978) and raised in Busselton, Western Australia, the only child of two New Age surfers originally from San Diego, California, and began surfing at age seven. At nine he entered and won a local contest for surfers 18 and under; at 16 he was the national juniors division champion; at 17 he won the prestigious Pro Junior.

Burrow earned a coveted slot on the 1997 world pro circuit, which he turned down—the first and only surfer to do so—claiming that at 17 he was "too young to do the tour full-on." The slender (5' 9", 140-pound) white-blond Australian had by that time distinguished himself as one of the world's most exciting surfers, matching an electrifying aerial repertoire with impossibly cool-handed tuberiding skills, and directing all maneuvers out of a smooth, low, aerodynamic stance.

Burrow easily qualified for the 1998 world tour, and earned rookie-of-the-year honors on his way to a #12 year-end finish. The following season he won two world tour events and finished the year runner-up to fellow Australian Mark Occhilupo. Burrow dropped to sixth in 2000, then faltered badly in 2001, finishing 35th in a contest season reduced to five events after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "At 23," surf journalist Matt George wrote, "he's bone tired. His surfing is still electric, but the current is irregular, and fuses blow all the time."

In November 2001 Burrow signed a six-year contract with surfwear giant Billabong thought to be worth $650,000 a year. Added to his other sponsorship deals—along with sales from a Taj Burrow surfing action figure, a diary-style book, and surf contest prize money—Burrow had become one of Australia's best-paid athletes, bringing in an estimated $1 million a year. He made a return to competitive form in 2002, winning a world tour event in Brazil, and finishing #4 in the final standings. He then settled in to a perennial top-5 ranking, every year seemingly a world title contender. In 2007, Burrow finished runner-up to Queenslander Mick Fanning. For three years running, starting in 2009, he finished at #4

In the late '00s, Burrow and world champion Kelly Slater developed a low-simmering rivalry, after a number of hard-fought heats in which Slater often came up with some last-second heroics to pull out the win. The animosity was kept in check, at least in part, because the two surfers' girlfriends were sisters. Burrow had also become something of a surf-world fashion plate, indulging, as 

 magazine put it, "a penchant for opulence."

Burrow, one of the most cheerful and approachable big-name surfers to ever come down the pike, is the subject of three sponsor-financed video documentaries,

 (2005), and has been featured in dozens of other surf videos, including 

, a fitness how-to, in 2003. Burrow was one of the first surfers to hire a full-time personal trainer.

Burrow, Taj

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos