Taj Burrow (born 2 June 1978) is an Australian retired professional
surfer. Taj retired from the
WSL World Tour
The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional ...
in June 2016 where he left a legacy of power and impressive surfing.
Early life
Burrow was born in
Yallingup,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, Australia to American parents and began surfing at age 7.
Career
In 1998 he qualified for the ASP World Tour at the age of 18 years, becoming the youngest surfer to ever win a national title.
Burrow had already earned a place on the world tour a year earlier, but he turned it down stating that, as a 17-year-old, he was "too young to do the tour full-on".
After his first year on tour in 1998, Burrow claimed the ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year award after finishing 12th place in the rankings.
[Fuel TV Profile]
In 2007 Burrow won the
Rip Curl Pro
The Rip Curl Pro, formerly the Bells Beach Surf Classic, is a WSL (formerly ASP) World Tour surfing competition held in and around Torquay, Victoria and sponsored by surf company Rip Curl. The event is based at Bells Beach, Victoria, Australi ...
at
Bells Beach, Victoria
Bells Beach is a coastal locality of Victoria, Australia in Surf Coast Shire and a renowned surf beach, located 100 km south-west of Melbourne, on the Great Ocean Road near the towns of Torquay and Jan Juc.
It is named after William Be ...
, Australia.
He backed this up with a victory at the 2007 Billabong Pro in
Jeffrey's Bay
Jeffreys Bay ( af, Jeffreysbaai, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It Is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due ...
, South Africa, where he claimed the title over the then 8-time world champion,
Kelly Slater
Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. Slater is also ...
. This win helped to secure his 2nd-place ranking on the
ASP Men's Tour, his second runner-up season placing.
In 2009, Burrow defeated Slater in the final of the
Billabong Pipeline Masters
The Billabong Pipeline Masters is an event in surfing held annually at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. It was established in 1971, and has been sponsored by Billabong since 2007.
The event attracts the top 34 surfers from The World Surf Lea ...
at the
Banzai Pipeline
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a r ...
. In the same year he finished fourth place on the World Tour.
Burrow won the 2013 Hurley Pro event in September 2013 for the first time, beating fellow Australian
Julian Wilson.
Sponsors
As of September 2013, Burrow is sponsored by
Globe
A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...
,
Billabong
Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...
,
Modom Surf,
Von Zipper
VonZipper is a subsidiary of the American surfing brand Boardriders, Inc., and specializes in eyewear for surfing, skateboarding, skiing, and snowboarding - sunglasses, goggles, and optics. It was founded in 2000 in San Clemente, California
...
and Nanotune.
ASP Tour wins
Other projects
In 2003 Burrow released a book entitled ''Taj Burrow's Book of Hot Surfing'',
[''Taj Burrow's Book of Hot Surfing'']
/ref> and has also produced a series of his own surf videos: ''Sabotaj'' (2000),[''Sabotaj'']
/ref> ''Montaj'' (2002)[''Montaj'']
/ref> and ''Taj Burrow's Fair Bits'' (2005).Globe
A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...
released a shoe line named after Burrow.
Since 2005 Burrow has hosted the 'Taj Small Fries' junior surfing competition at Yallingup, Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Personal life
Burrow married Rebecca Jobson in November 2018. The couple had an intimate ceremony so Jobson's sick mother was able to attend. They had a second wedding in February 2019. The couple have two daughters.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrow, Taj
1977 births
Living people
Australian people of American descent
Australian surfers
People from Busselton
World Surf League surfers