Wayne Lynch - the Shark Story

Wayne Lynch is one of the greatest surfers of our time. An innovator in the water and in the shaping bay he has thrilled generations of surfers with his surfing and passion for the ocean. In this rare interview Wayne shares his famous shark story. A great Australian surf tale recorded for our museum Oral History Program.
You can find out more about Wayne Lynch at the new 20 20 Exhibition which opened at the Surfworld Museum Torquay in December 2013.
Produced by the Surfworld Museum, Torquay, Surf Coast, Australia

[@dylansmith4046]

This could be a giant KZbin channel we all would love to watch.. just old timer legit waterman telling us their craziest surfing stories.. it’s so entertaining to watch idk why it isn’t a thing.

[@surfinmuso37]

"And u went back out!?" "Well it didn't bite ..." Best story ever.

[@hoibsh21]

That's Aussie spirit, mate.

[@LONGISLANDHAWAIIAN]

Aussies are the best story tellers !!! Mahalo Wayne

[@GlassGenius]

Yip they don't let the truth get in the way.

[@sunovadistributionn.z.693]

true huh :)

[@daveharker1713]

Crazy story, respect to Wayne. Legends like this you don't know about & so cool to see him surf and listen to this story.

[@mozdickson]

Ah stuff it, and I went back out. Yep. Top yarn top surfer.

[@stalks1413]

Best shark storytelling ever!

[@AntonAtkin]

love when its massive and the old school hellmen come out of the woodworks, and you just watch them absolutely charge! so much respect

[@ChillCash]

This guy is fearless.

[@dd7229]

At Puerto Escondido 1985, I was paddling for position on large perfect right peak. There was an Aussie paddling for same peak but I had position. So, Instead of cutting me off or giving me the stink eye, he pulls out at the last second. I was practically right on top of him, and then, in a thick Australian accent he said four little words, "Go for it, mate!" I don't care how hard core you think you are, hearing "Go for it, mate" with that accent right in your ear, will get your adrenaline going. The wave was huge and starting to throw. If not for the Aussie, I might have pulled out, but the guy pulled back for me and topped it off with "go for it, mate". I had no choice. I late dropped on the the monster backside right And was flying down the face. I took a hard bottom turn back into the wave. However I was going so fast, I shot up the face of the wave and was about to shoot out of the top of the wave, so instead I tried to turn my board hard back into the wave. In doing so I carved an amazing turn off the top and sent a fan of water that could have been a cover shot. It was totally by accident. I was just trying not to fly out the top of the wave. Well, the Aussie must have seen it, because after I kicked out and paddled back he said, "Beauty ride, mate. Beauty ride!" I tried to play it off cool, but I was giddy.

[@lucasdevlin1]

Thanks for sharing, that's a cool and fun story

[@robhernandez1827]

Lol mate

[@kit2130]

Was there a shark, though?

[@bradleyale]

No shark, no story

[@simetime6045]

Thats gold mate..

[@eyemanutube]

Wow. I surfed at Castles in the 70s with a mate of mine. It was big and i nearly drown. In those days there were no leg ropes. I lost my board and i was the only one out. Some guy on a kneeboard saved me. Eternally grateful to him. When you pull up to Castels you are high up and you don't realise how big it is. Now i check wait and see how big it is.

[@cr4zyu]

"No sharks here mate, the crocodiles ate 'em out."

[@wdg4bill]

Great story and told especially well

[@watergraffiti]

just paddled out to castles last week, beautiful spot, I always think of Waynes story out there! Very sharky spot but I think they have food around. Cool story Wayne you legend.

[@marilynallan9846]

Husband of gal in pic writing! I was so impressed by this yarn when I read it in a 1970's Tracks magazine...tore it out and pasted it in my "Life" scrapbook,...boy, does it drain the blood from readers' faces when I drag it out for visiting surf Mates to read. Magic!

[@stuarthayward2220]

Wayne seems like such a cool character. Always knew he was an amazing surfer since I was just a kid but now I know he's got balls of steel to! Cheers mate!

[@smalltowninnewmexico]

cool dude- but VERY PRICKLY too. maybe is humbled in his mature years -but i was always kinda scared of Wayne L

[@stuarthayward2220]

@@smalltowninnewmexico Yeah, I hear you. Sounds like half the Hawaiians I grew up surfing with, scary & mental in their youth, matured & mellow as they got older.

[@weazelj]

Awesome, makes you realise how much of an accomplished, confident water men these pioneers are.

[@NotApplicable678]

Great story and well told. I'd want this bloke on my side.

[@s.c.7362]

Wayne LUNCH.

[@KandMe1]

These interviews are the best ever.

[@jeffhartwig5283]

Great yarn mate! I have a few Surfer/Surfing magazines from the seventies with Wayne Lynch ripping up slabs by himself...

[@ikaikamaleko8370]

"I went back out"...............fkn nuts.

[@nukmunnit3170]

The rest of this story is cool...Wayne met him again when the guy was having some work done on his house...and Wayne was a labourer...then Wayne told him he was the guy who rescued him that day and gave him the full shark story...the guy completely got sick in the guts when he heard it.

[@qwertyu147]

Heavy story, there has probably been 100 other he hasn't seen, which is what keeps us going back in..

[@5ty717]

Truth is far stranger than fiction… thx Wayne. Legends.

[@WjB_96792]

interesting story! wayne lynch is a legend and an australian national treasure!!

[@franko278]

To be that calm in that rescue situation is takes balls and confidence, but to go back out............

[@freesoul3371]

1976 I was 14 years old surfing Seaside Park Midway beach NJ with my buddy TM and we were out in the lineup little 4 foot waves and all of a sudden we hear this whistle. Whistling frantic whistling coming from the end of the board walk there in seaside it was this dude Kurt who lived in the last house there and he was on his balcony whistling a whistle and waving his arms. Then we notice people on the beach my buddies dad jumping up and down waving his arms so reluctantly we paddle in. We get on the beach and a GIANT fucking shark fin maybe 3.5/4 feet high go swimming right past were we were sitting this was a monster white shark, …..we didn't care the next morning I was right back in the surf getting some tasty 5-6 foot glassy barrels so for a 14 year old wave starved jersey kids no Jaws is going to keep us out of the water.

[@thebaronofbelco2615]

Mate This bloke is a true waterman whether as a fisherman a surfer etc. I’d believe what he says about the ocean with out question, I also met him many years ago when I was a young bloke, he was very funny, humble and generous with his time, we started talking about my “Keyo Plastic machine” (and how as a grom I used it too fish off it in the Tweed heads canals and New Brighton) so we then got onto talking fishing and sharks he listened too our hectic Schooner induced rambling Shark encounter story with patience haha, but we actually talked mainly about fishing. Very knowledgeable, in the end we just listened. Top bloke (note I put a similar comment too this on another site, just thought others might be interested) cheers Haydox

[@oi5692]

Yeah, thats a dude who says his prayers EVERY night!!! : D Epic!

[@silver-en7kl]

Best shark account I’ve ever heard. I think that shark would have eaten that John guy for sure if this Wayne guy hadn’t saved him. What an incredible story.

[@JohnnyB-vq4vf]

I love his “ah shit, he just got eaten...wrecked me fu$kn wave” take on it lol

[@katgrey6239]

Wow! That's an awesome and scary experience!

[@dewayn]

nice friends. Just sat up on the cliffs and didn't try and help. With friends like that who needs enemies. great story

[@KevinHallSurfing]

Was out big reef lost board getting smashed along cliffs 8ft foams and seriously going down on last breath when luckily my feet touched cunji outcrop and could stand a bit and got to the rocks. Up on the hill above 3 or 4 just looking, sitting there. Some friends just don't get it. Though in hindsight there was probably fuck all they could do.

[@shooter7a]

What could they have done?

[@tjmurray1132]

Man what a story mate yew. Heavy

[@mickmangles8000]

Saw Wayne surfing a few times with Maurice Cole at big Johanna , Maurice was on a 5 foot 8 twinnie and shredding 10 foot waves like they were nothing ... late seventies good times never forget it.

[@monkeypooh9014]

What a Legend!

[@kvenrecords6657]

I love this story:)

[@gregshark1546]

Had similar experience, without the saving a distressed swimmer, on the South African Wild Coast back in 1978 .... 3 of us in the water, mate was kicking hard paddling onto a wave as I was paddling up the wave and in front of me a large shark type (not identified) was rocketing along the wave aimed at his feet. Luckily he took off and the shark did a right angle turn and disappeared ..... Wayne Lynch talks matter-of-fact like about his incident ..... I would have been crapping my baggies!

[@bienvenidoeligio3765]

Best shark story ever

[@stevenstevens7560]

What a story..

[@jrcxley]

Surfed Cactus on the great Australian Bight about 45 years ago. When we first paddled out we noticed 3 sharks swimming through the line up. Nearly shit myself. A local said not to worry as their out there all the time!!!

[@fezbot100]

Great story teller

[@clarkewi]

Great story.

[@pikiwiki]

very interesting

[@guythompson1616]

Epic story

[@nextari]

I feel a lot better about surfing in Australia now.

[@DrainAddict]

Wow, great story, thanks heaps for that.

[@destinjohnny007]

my favorite surfer when I was a grom my favorite surfer now.

[@nighthawk8053]

Wooohhh that's heavy ,bloody hell.

[@Strawman333]

That shark saw Wayne, and said "I'm not mucking around with this guy, he'll eat me!"

[@solsurfer1558]

🙏 Legend 🙏

[@KatherineUribe-1]

Everytime I hear this story it freaks me out! Very scary story!🦈😨🦈😨🦈

[@Bruce516]

Ice runs through that man's veins.

[@dlvox7415]

Cool story.

[@bingoshadingo4263]

Legend

[@MaximusDowns]

Crazy stuff, glad the guy is alright.

[@Turtle-to7nc]

That coast from Lorne down to Apollo bay can get so heavy and perfect. Big point breaks, ledging reefs. But that coast is tame compared to what happens from Castles at Cape Otway and further down. From Otway on the coast faces into the swell a lot more. Crowds are non existent at many places. It's very isolated and powerful. The good waves on their day are absolutely world class.

[@timtam8771]

Turtle79 sshhhhh. Ffs

[@paulie2476]

Just another day in Straya !!

[@DavidMichaelChen]

Awesome story! wow.

[@andrewmair7371]

Wayne Lynch: the ‘Neil Young’ of surfing… if you will ~~~🏄🏻‍♂️ 😊 🌊🎸

[@bretleversha]

Great story of survival but a mega silly choice to go back in!

[@col2959]

Bret Leversha all due respect Bret but that's the difference between you and Wayne Lynch

[@laurencepokras6657]

holy moly

[@Riker-ER]

One tough dude!

[@adamdennis2936]

That dude is cool under pressure.

[@jrcxley]

I was a spearfisherman in my teens and used to tow the "fish ring" attached to a 60 ft cord. We'd spared about 60 lbs of fish. I felt a tug on the rope on the way in but ignored it. As we pulled the fish in, to our amazement some big mother shark had take a massive night out of our hall. Thank God he went for the fish and not me.

[@alexmason9503]

listenin' to this croc Dandy is hilarious ))

[@michaelreddington2127]

Cheers, we all wanted to be you, 18yo west coaster Auckland lads that we were.

[@krustysurfer]

What A Hoot! Aloha

[@SLC09]

"I'll save you but I won't die for you" 🤺

[@nimbungi]

Great surf yarn. I wonder if John has seen this?

[@andrewcullum7097]

Can't understand why these Surfers do this in high risk areas? Just Crazy!!

[@brianbritton8447]

He was the man in the early 70s complete ripper.

[@638Benj]

Wayne da boss

[@surfsquatch5]

I believe every word of that shit. Something similar happened to me in northern california.

[@surfsquatch5]

To elaborate on this a bit, i watched a dorsal fin which i believed to be from a 6 foot pointer circle a little girl on a bodyboard on the INSIDE of me! She didnt see it , i paddled right at her , no thought and basically just pulled her inside to the deep trench which runs along the beach where you get out of the water at this pointbreak. I nearly shit myself when i saw the fin. This was ni fucking dolphin. Doplhins dont circle around something with a smooth gliding motion....

[@danielhounslow4274]

Well played shark! It must of realised it wouldn't be able to eat Waynes huge fucking balls!!!

[@MrIsomer]

Leave it to the Lorne Fish to weave us such a tale!

[@annabizaro-doo-dah]

Smart shark - didn't live to get that big by being reckless.

[@kirkdunn1379]

that is the most impressive thing about the story imo, how intelligent the animal was

[@wingman7nz]

Crazy ... just mad that story is

[@Salomeii]

Angels about. Good yarn.

[@kevinallen6197]

My friend lived in Humboldt and said the white sharks would show up a lot. They would fin and everyone would get out and leave. True story. Very eery.

[@hwm2024]

Wonder if the guy he saved has ever watched this 😂😂

[@justtowatch111]

Did a surf trip up the coast to a place called Port Robbie, didn't know where to park the car so drove out to the edge of a cliff overlooking the bay. Port Robbie was the place to surf when the rest of the coast was too big. We watched a couple of guys in the break and the first thing we saw was them both catch the same wave and start to prone in. We had our boards and our wetsuits were on so we climbed down the cliff, no path, and got down as they came out of the water. I asked how it was and one guy said they had been sitting out there when a shark came up between them so they came in. I looked at my mate, he was bleeding from a cut to the foot from climbing down the cliff and I had some grazes but we had come a long way for a surf so we stood and watched for a few minutes and then went out anyway. We were young, dumb and full of come, the waves were really very poor, it was on shore 2-3 foot mush but at least we didn't see the shark!.

[@ajj4483]

I did something similar in Trestles last year. I travelled all the way from Ireland to surf it and only had this one day free. Arrived to the beach and the lifeguard was putting up signs to say some guy just got bumped, there was an aggressive shark in the lineup. Nobody was in the water. I told him I've come all this way and I'm gonna get in. He asked my name so he could tell my wife if anything happened. Next minute, I saw a load of fins break the surface out at Uppers, a pod of dolphins. Some other fella came running down the beach to get in. I paddled out after him and we shared small, clean waves for about an hour just by ourselves. In retrospect, I feel a bit stupid, can't cite youth or cockiness, I just didn't feel it was my day to go.

[@dawitmulholland1820]

which beach did this story take place?

[@qwertyu147]

I think its castle cove in VIC

[@ninjamoves3642]

WOW! they don't make em like they used to.

[@KevinHallSurfing]

Can bet it was bigger. He was out off Cape Otway by himself, must've been 10 - 12 foot but "Nah ... 8ft" so argued for about 20 minutes saying "No way, 10 to 12ft" .... "Nah mate ... 8 ft" He remembered the day, it was huge, but he wouldn't wear the compliment even though I said I was scared just watching and he knew I knew my stuff but "Nah ... 8 ft" Haha but can only imagine how big it really and why the guy nearly drowned.

[@PG-lp4bn]

It’s Hawaiian equivalent....4ft bra

[@StephenBeale]

Sharks are much more intelligent than we give them credit for... And they really don't want to eat us

[@surfsquatch5]

This is true but the occasional test bite or whatever you want to call it is not pleasant I haven't personally been bit but it's not out of the realm of possibility that you will get bit

[@djames5705]

Depends on the type of shark.

[@outsidechambaz]

Jimmy Mac yup and a sharks “test bite” can kill you

[@kirkdunn1379]

pretty crazy the shark had the intelligence to peak out of the water to get a good look and do so very quietly......incredible skill imo to investigate and assess the situation b4 just going ballistic in for an attack....it already seen you in the water and most likely been scoping you out for lil while.experienced am sure being a huge white so it wasnt a youngster.......the end was a lil bit of shocker, it must have been thinking have a go or its not my normal food......they are incredibly intellegent

[@zackzittel7683]

Great whites are the only species that does it, many call it “tombstoning” because they resemble a tombstone when doing it…… they do it because they hunt mammals and that’s how they look for seals on beaches……. And birds…..And people in boats and dead whales…. I think it’s really impressive that they search OUTSIDE the ocean for food.

[@grahamjarman]

why didnt the guy have a surfboard?

[@kevinallen6197]

My friend John had a 10ft.white swim right under his board at San Onofre trail 1. Caught a wave right at that moment. People who aren't afraid of white sharks are crazy. It's eery sitting way outside with No one around you. Been there done that. Surfers haved a lot of guts doing what they do sometimes.

[@Sprint-jj3fe]

Yup, same same. Worst nightmare.

[@DS-go8mn]

And that's why I always make sure I surf near a bunch of people ... especially around kooks because they're always falling off and flailing around 😀

[@hillanne100]

Surfing is fun but if you see a shark, and it does not eat you, go home mate!!

[@pitman2911]

A Very lucky bloke

[@justtowatch111]

John was very lucky he had a bad case of athletes foot.

[@MrDeadsurfer]

Strange story, for sure.

[@eganc1976]

Bit early in the morning for Kung Fu

[@burgundypoint]

Sharks seem to always be around the rips. Probably because of the deeper water and because it channels small fish that are leaving the surf. Get dragged in one and it's not only the water that becomes your concern

[@paztheripper]

the shark was waiting for them to empty their bowels .... cuz humans taste better without the shit in them hahaha

[@Fred-xh9ls]

you're so full of shit the sharks would be waiting a long time for your bowels to be emptied

[@lorenzo6mm]

The "Land Lord" asking for... 'rent'..... mate. Morning of the Earth ...yeah Super Local of the world, right.

[@EvanThomas]

The ocean is a scary place

[@hwm2024]

Such weird behaviour from the shark. It obviously knew that they weren’t prey, but targeting them from 300 yards away is interesting