Andy Irons, one of the greatest surfers of all time, has been found dead in his Dallas hotel room.
Irons was a remarkable surfer and was worshipped by surfers all over the world, and is widely regarded to have changed the face of surfing.
He was born on July 24, 1978 and died on November 2, 2010…two days ago.
Irons learned to surf on the dangerous and shallow reefs of the North Shore in Kauai, Hawaii, and won three world titles (2002, 2003, 2004), three Quiksilver Pro France titles (2003, 2004, 2005), two Rip Curl Pro Search titles (2006 and 2007) and 19 elite tour victories. And only two months ago, on September 3, 2010 he won the Billabong Pro in Tahiti.
He and his family hosted the Annual Irons Brothers Pinetrees Classic, a contest for youngsters. The governor of Hawaii declared February 13 forever ‘Andy Irons Day’.
You know that you’re dealing with someone special when you have a day named after you.
During his childhood Andy regularly lost to his younger brother, Bruce, in contests, but that changed once he entered the World Championship Tour.
Billabong produced an “Andy Irons” line of board shorts
The 2004 movie Blue Horizon (directed by surfing filmmaker Jack McCoy), paralleled his life on the WCT tour with that of free surfer, David Rastovich. The film also touched on his long-time rivalry with nine-time world champion Kelly Slater, who by the way, is devasted that his greatest rival has gone.
Although the film was created in a documentary-like style, there has been some debate over whether or not the film offered an accurate and fair portrayal of Irons’ surfing lifestyle. In addition to “Blue Horizon”, Irons was also a subject of many other surf films, including his last screen appearance in Trilogy, which starred himself, Joel Parkinson, and Taj Burrow.
Irons married Lyndie Dupuis on November 25, 2007 in Princeville, Kaui. She was seven months pregnant with their first child, which just makes his untimely death even more sad.
He was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California in 2008.
In 2009, Irons withdrew from doing the full ASP World Tour season for personal reasons, though he did participate in a few events. He requested a wildcard entry for the 2010 ASP World Tour season, which was granted by ASP President Wayne Bartholomew. As a result, Irons did not have to re-qualify in 2010 via the World Qualifying Series (WQS). Irons won the Billabong Pro Tahiti 2010.
There’s speculation as to how Irons died and some reports have indicated that there may have been an overdose of methadone.
Irons had admitted reently in an interview that he had been battling with demons, and that surfing was the only thing that kept him going.
According to The Association of Surfing Professionals, he had reportedly been battling with dengue fever, which is a terrible viral disease.
He still remains the only surfer to have won every event on the world tour.
by Vandas Voice
