Mathieu Schiller (April 14, 1979 – September 19, 2011) was a French

bodyboarder Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the invention of the "Boogie ...

. Crowned French champion in 1993, he later won the team event of the European championships in 1995. He died in a

shark attack A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of ...

off

Saint-Gilles, Réunion Saint-Gilles is a village located along the west coast of the island of Réunion, in the commune of Saint-Paul. It is the site of the island's most popular seaside resort. Beaches Boucan and Roches Noires are popular surfing spots. The beach ...

. The attack was likely caused by multiple

tiger shark The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and tempera ...

bull sharks The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in riv ...

. The presence of sharks and turbulent conditions forced rescuers to abandon an immediate attempt to retrieve his body; his remains were never recovered. Schiller was certified as a state sports coach in 2007 after being a

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

since 2004. In 2008 Schiller founded a surfing school, Boucan Surf S'cool, which operated until 2013. In 2009 he created a brand of surfwear called Local Brothers which was a sponsor of Reunion Island bodysurfers since 2010.

Bodysurfing

Schiller started bodyboarding in La Réunion in his youth. In 1993 he finished 3rd in the La Réunion junior championship and second in La Réunion for competitors under 14 years of age. That same year he placed second in France in the championship at Guadeloupe. In 1994, he was crowned French bodyboard champion. In 1995 he ranked 7th in the individual European championship and became European team champion, defeating on July 11 9 times world champion Mike Stewart. Sponsored in 1996, he competed throughout France, Portugal, and England. He was 9th in the Hollywood bodyboard pro and 45th in the world. Following this competition, he was invited to participate in the Pipe Master. In 2001, he placed second for La Réunion in bodyboarding and in 2007, he was a finalist in this championship. In 2005 in La Réunion, Schiller pioneered the practice of

tow-in surfing Tow-in surfing is a surfing technique which uses artificial assistance to allow the surfer to catch faster moving waves than was traditionally possible when paddling by hand. Tow-in surfing was invented by surfers who wanted to catch big waves a ...

with jet skis.

Death

On 19 September 2011 at approximately noon Schiller was surfing along with over a dozen other surfers on

Reunion Island Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, US ...

. After diving under a wave he was seen being attacked by several sharks. The first shark bit his legs. Schiller was witnessed beating the shark with his boogie board. A second shark bit his torso while another shark was seeing snapping his jaws around Schiller. Vincent Rzepecki was the first guard to attempt rescuing. Fellow surfer Yves Delaplin arrived to the scene and held Schiller on his board while Rzepecki arrived for rescuing. Rzepecki took Schiller on his board but was quickly knocked out by newly forming waves. Rzepecki held to Schiller but subsequent waves forced the now deceased surfer from his arms. After swimming to shore the fire department initiated the recovery of Schiller's body being quickly overwhelmed by the number of sharks in the vicinity of the impact zone. Schiller's body hasn't been recovered. It was the fourth shark attack that year. Since Schiller's death in 2011, the number of licensed surfers in Reunion has fallen from 1,600 to 400 in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiller, Mathieu Bodyboarders French surfers 1979 births 2011 deaths Sport deaths in France Deaths due to shark attacks Sportspeople from Paris