Patrick O'Connell (born 1971) is a retired professional surfer who competed in the top ranks of the Association of Surfing Professionals (now called The World Surf League) before retiring and working in the surfwear industry and as a top executive with the World Surf League. He is best known to the general public as one of two surfers - along with
Robert "Wingnut" Weaver - in
Bruce Brown's ''
The Endless Summer II''. The film was a 1994 follow-up to Brown's landmark 1966 surf documentary
The Endless Summer''
Biography
Born in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1971, O'Connell moved to
Newport Beach
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...
and then
Dana Point in the early 1980s where he was a member of the
Dana Hills High surf team. In 1990, O'Connell represented the United States in the World Amateur Championships in Japan, winning the first event and finishing ninth overall in the Open Division also winning two PSAA events. He gained celebrity status when he took one of the lead roles in
Bruce Brown's remake of his 1966 classic ''
The Endless Summer''. He maintained his seed for many seasons, peaking in 1998 at 11th on the World Champion Tour
WCT and 10th in the Surfer Poll.
O'Connell and fellow pro surfer
Mike "Snips" Parsons launched The Realm, a start-up clothing venture. After many seasons on the
ASP World Tour, O'Connell retired "on his own terms", having requalified for the 2005 tour at the last event in Hawaii. Soon after walking away from full-time competition, O'Connell began a marketing job for
Hurley International. Pat has also been one of the regulars (along with
Donavon Frankenreiter and Benji Weatherley) on the "Drive Thru" series of surf movies and television shows since 2005. He is a 2009 inductee into the Surfers' Hall of Fame in
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...
.
Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour rankings
1995: 29th
1996: 32nd
1997: 17th
1998: 11th
1999: 25th
2000: 40th
2001: 23rd
2002: 32nd
2003: 35th
2004: 26th
ASP World Tour Archived Results and Rankings
Filmography
*''
The Endless Summer II'' (1994)
*''Rusty Surfboards No Thrills for the Cautious'' (1991)
*''Rusty Surfboards Under the Same Sun''(1994)
*''Rusty Surfboards Playground'' (1995)
*''The Endless Summer Revisited'' (2000)
*''Chasing Dora'' (2006)
[Chasing Dora (2006) Thomas Joseph Barrack III & Wes Brown]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Patrick
1971 births
American surfers
Living people