Mark Foo
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Mark Sheldon Foo was a professional surfer who favored
big wave surfing Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves that are at least 20 feet (6.2 m) high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. The size of the board needed to successfully surf these w ...
. Foo drowned while surfing at
Mavericks Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 Ma ...
,
Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Mo ...
, California, in 1994.


Early life

Mark Foo was born in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
on February 5, 1958, to Colonel Charlie and Lorna Foo, Chinese
photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...
s for the
U.S. Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...
. The family relocated 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 ...
when Foo was 10. He spent his early childhood surfing the South Shore of
O'ahu 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 ...
, and continued surfing throughout his teenage years. His family moved several times during his adolescence but ultimately returned to Hawaii just before Foo finished high school. He studied for two years at the
University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
.


Career

In 1977, Foo joined the IPS World Tour, a professional surfing tour. In the early 1980s, Foo quit the IPS World Tour and stopped competing. Foo's passion for surfing big waves led him to surf larger and larger swells. In 1983, he surfed
Waimea Bay Waimea Bay is located in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oʻahu in the Hawaiian Islands at the mouth of the Waimea River. Waimea Valley extends east of Waimea Bay. means "reddish water" in Hawaiian. History On February 27, 1779, Captain ...
, a famous big-wave surfing spot on the North Shore of O'ahu, for the first time. But it was on January 18, 1986, when he ventured out into the bay with waves that onlookers said were in excess of 60 feet, that he rose to fame. When Foo fell off the overhanging ledge, the crashing wave broke his surfboard and tossed him into the water. Foo had to be rescued by a nearby helicopter, yet he emerged from the crash unharmed. He sent the story to various surfing magazines, but failed in the attempt to raise his surfing status to that of a "
demigod A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...
."


Death at Mavericks

On December 23, 1994, Foo died in a surfing accident at
Mavericks Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 Ma ...
, a big-wave surf location in
Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Mo ...
,
Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
. ''Surfer'' magazine wrote that Foo was sleep-deprived after arriving in California on an overnight flight for the swell. During takeoff on a wave estimated at 18–20 feet (
Hawaiian scale Hawaiian scale is an expression of the height of a wind wave affecting water. It is the expression conventionally used by surfers in Hawaii and is also used in Australia and parts of South Africa. The expression, always given in feet, is a scaled ...
), Foo experienced a seemingly innocuous wipeout and drowned. The fateful wipeout was photographed from at least two angles, and shows him falling forward near the bottom of the wave. The most popular presumption is that Foo's surf leash had become entangled on the rocks, with the rushing currents of a second wave passing overhead preventing him from disengaging his ankle strap and getting to the surface. This theory was further validated when professional surfer Mike Parsons, who wiped out on the following wave, said that he came into contact with something, possibly Foo, as he was tumbled around underwater. Foo's body was discovered still tied to the broken tail section of his board inside Pillar Point lagoon over two hours later. The coroner's report cited "salt-water drowning" and "blunt head trauma" as his causes of death. Foo's death shook the big-wave surfing community. On December 30, over 700 people arrived at Waimea Bay for his funeral. Approximately 150 surfers paddled into and formed a large circle. One of the participants, who was carrying a container with Foo's ashes, paddled into the center of the circle and placed the ashes into the ocean. A segment of the film ''
Riding Giants ''Riding Giants'' is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the ...
'' documented Foo's death at Mavericks.


Legacy

Foo founded a hostel, Backpackers Hawaii, in Pupukea. The hostel's website maintains an online memorial for him. Foo helped elevate the popularity of the sport, with his talent, courage, and enthusiasm, and was recognized as one of the greatest big-wave surfers of all time. Mark was a favorite subject of photographers, and he had his own cable television surfing program. "If you want to ride the ultimate wave, you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price" was Foo's philosophy. In the realm of big-wave surfing, Foo's death brought about a continuing discourse regarding the safe use of
surfboard leash A leg rope or surfboard leash is a Polyurethane, urethane cord attached to the deck of a surfboard, down near the tail. It prevents the surfboard from being swept away by Ocean surface wave, waves and stops runaway surfboards from hitting other su ...
es, or flexible cords that connect the surfboard to a belt on the surfers ankle. Proponents defend the leash as a useful convenience and insurance against losing the surfboard, which serves as flotation device in the case of a " wipe out." They also assert that the leash is a means for a fallen surfer to find his way to surface air by following the leash cord to the floating surfboard on the water's surface. There are also surfers who believe that Foo's surfboard leash may have caused or contributed to his death. Opponents of leashes in big surf assert that a leash can cause the surfer to collide with the board in a wipe out, potentially causing head injuries, and that the leash can also loop around the arms, legs, or neck, dangerously restricting escape to safety or strangling the surfer. Quick-release Velcro leashes have since become standard surfing equipment to address some of these dangers. The debates continue to this day. American rock band Seventeen (later known as Lustra) performed a musical tribute (misspelled as "Mark Fu") on their 2000 LP Bikini Pie Fight!.


''Stealing the Wave''

The epic battle between Foo and
Ken Bradshaw Ken Bradshaw (born October 4, 1952) is an American professional surfer and winner of the 1982 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. Bradshaw was born in Houston, Texas. On January 28, 1998, Bradshaw successfully towed into and rode ...
in the 1980s is chronicled in '' Stealing the Wave'' by
Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945) is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He is a vexatious litigant who has filed over 250 po ...
(
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...
).


See also

* Eddie Aikau * North Shore (movie appearance as a surfer)


References


Works cited

* *


Further reading

* Andy Martin: ''Stealing the Wave'', Bloomsbury Publishing, * Matt Warshaw: ''Maverick's: the story of big-wave surfing'', Chronicle Books,


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foo, Mark 1958 births 1994 deaths American people of Chinese descent American sportspeople of Singaporean descent American surfers Big wave surfing Mavericks, California Sports deaths in California World Surf League surfers Big wave surfers