Nothing brings together a community more than a local boy taking on the champ. Shane Herring grew up on the Northern Beaches, catching the 180 from Frenchs Forest to Dee Why for 35c. While initially the local boys didn’t take too kindly to a Forest boy surfing in a Belrose rugby jersey, it was here where he honed his distinctive approach to wave riding.
Shane’s surfing began making waves outside the Northern Beaches. His low, balls to the wall approach allowed his body to drive rail to rail like a loaded spring. His surfing was as brazen as it was stylish. Every move was intentional and radical.
Enter the Coca Cola Classic 1992. At this point Shane was living with his Mum and catching the bus from Dee Why to Narrabeen to surf his heats, earning him a front cover of the Manly Daily as the surfer who catches the bus to work. Despite this, Herring faced the then 20-y-o Kelly Slater and took out the final with a beach of onlookers cheering his every move. Shane was now a world title contender.
It is no secret that Herring soon hit his own wall, which is in itself a reflection of the state of competitive surfing and the world tour at this time. Long had there been a culture of who could drink the most the night before and surf the best the morning after. At this time, some surfers were breaking away from this category and there was now a divide between surfers who partied before heats and those who prepared. Herring represented the former and Slater, the latter. Slater went on to win the 1992 world title and then five more from 1994 onwards.
Despite being overcome by his demons, Herrings surfing was arguably some of the best to come out of such an iconic era in surfing and the 1992 Coca Cola classic displays this with flying colours.
Written by Ben Morgan - 28th May 2020
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