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

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

Bertlemann, Larry

Cheerful and well-traveled pro surfer from Mumbles, Wales; European pro champion in 1985 and 1989. "He is a roving good-will ambassador, a part of surfing folklore" 

 magazine said of Williams in 1997, "spreading stoke and boundless appreciation for life wherever he goes,"

Williams was born (1965) in Llandovery, Wales; his pub-owner father was a former coal miner and Welsh national team rugby player. Carwyn began surfing at 14, with just a pair of trunks and a rugby vest to guard against the Bristol Channel chill, on a plastic popout board he shared with a friend. Williams later said it took him six months before he was able to stand up and ride, but from there he learned quickly, and in 1983 he simultaneously held the Welsh, British, and European juniors titles.

A wide-open attacking surfer with a wide, crouching, functional stance—Williams was a skateboarder before be began surfing, and skate-style moves, including aerials, featured heavily in his repertoire—he finished runner-up in the inaugural European pro circuit in 1984, then won in 1985. Much of the following year was spent recovering from a from a broken wrist—the result of a skate accident.

For Williams, however, surf contests were always secondary to surf travel. He spent the first six months of 1987 driving the coast of New South Wales and Queensland, living out of a 1969 Morris Minor he'd bought for $300; in autumn he was in France and Spain, sleeping in a battered 1979 BMW; that winter in Hawaii he lived in the backseat of a rusted 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo. "My father's really embarrassed," Williams said. "He's told me not to tell people I've slept in cars. You do that, and you live on sandwiches for weeks at a time, and people like my father just can't understand it."

In 1989, the bantamweight regularfooter (5' 7" 125) underperformed on the world pro circuit, his only full season in the big leagues, but regained the European pro title. The following year he injured his right knee in an automobile accident in France, and doctors told him he'd never surf again. Eight months later he had reconstructive surgery, and two years was able to begin surfing; by 1995, wearing a heavy knee brace, Williams was back in top form. He finished #5 on the European pro circuit in 1996 and 1997.

 magazine named Williams one of the "Six Greatest British Surfers Ever,"

Williams appeared in a small number of surf movies and videos, including 

Williams, Carwyn

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint