Ian Cairns (born 24 July 1952 in

Kew, Victoria Kew () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, found 5 km east from Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District. Kew is located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of ...

) is a former champion surfer who was also influential in establishing the world professional surfing circuit and particularly the World Championship Tour. He was described as "the premier "power" surfer of his era hodominated the North Shore during the mid to late-seventies". He moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

with his family from Victoria in early 1967, to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

's western suburbs, attending Swanbourne Senior High School. Cairns dominated the surfing scene in his adopted state. From the age of 13 he consistently won every competition on offer, winning state Junior and Open titles. He moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in the early 1970s in search of big waves and before a professional circuit had established.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

Cairns joined the Australian team at the 1970 and 1972 World Surfing Championships and at Laniakea off

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

in December 1973 he won the Smirnoff Pro event at Sunset Beach from Hawaiian Jeff Hakman. He won other big events in the

Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship The Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship is named in honor of the "Father of Modern Surfing", Duke Kahanamoku, Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku. The contest began in 1965 by invitation only at Sunset Beach (Oahu), Sunset B ...

in 1975 and World Cup events in 1976 and 1980. In 1975, Cairns and fellow Australian Peter Townend devised a rating and scoring system for surfing events. In 1979, he moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and with Townend formed the

National Scholastic Surfing Association The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) is a surfing association in the United States. It is a member organization of Surfing America, the National Governing Body of Surfing in the United States. Founded in 1978 by Tom Gibbons, John Roth ...

(NSSA). In 1983 he became the first director of the

Association of Surfing Professionals 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 WSL was originally known as International Professional Surfing (IPS), fo ...

(ASP) of which he is a life member. He returned to Australia in 1986 where he farmed at

Margaret River, Western Australia Margaret River is a large town in the South West (Western Australia), South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Areas of Western Australia, Lo ...

. In 1996 he returned to California where he now lives with his wife Alisa Schwarzstein, his son Jonathon (daughter Amy lives in Australia) and twin sons. Alisa Schwarzstein is a former ASP professional. She was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame as that year's Woman of the Year in 2012; the Walk is in Huntington Beach, California. Cairns is currently Head Coach of the

PacSun Pacific Sunwear of California, LLC, commonly known as PacSun, is an American retail clothing brand. The company sells lifestyle apparel, along with swim, footwear and accessories designed for teens and young adults. As of 2022, the company operate ...

USA Surf Team. Cairns was inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 1990, into the Surfing Walk of Fame at Huntington Beach, California, as a Surf Champion in 2010, and into the Surfers' Hall of Fame, also in 2010. The Western Australian Surfers' and Waveriders' Association awards the Ian Cairns Award to the Western Australian male surfer of the year.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Ian 1952 births Living people Australian surfers Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia Sportspeople from Melbourne World Surf League surfers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States

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