Shane Beschen (February 18, 1972-)

The Largest Surfing Encyclopedia

---

A-Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

---

Advertisement

"Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" Shane Beschen knows just how Jan Brady felt.

From day one, the popular sibling of the surfing world, Kelly Slater, has clouded the ascent of his West Coast rival. In 1986, at the U.S. Surfing Championships at Sebastian Inlet, Florida, in a close Boys final, Slater finished first, Beschen second. And nothing has changed since. For Slater, six world titles, fame, fortune and happiness. For Beschen, bitterness, financial burdens and an ongoing search overshadow moments of satisfying brilliance. Either by choice or as the result of the media's needs, the two have emerged in the classic good guy/bad guy scenario.

San Clemente is a rebel breeding ground. Matt Archbold, Christian Fletcher, Chris Ward, Crazy Randall -- not exactly your Richie Cunningham types. The bouncy beachbreaks and nonconformist subculture produce surfers who aren't afraid to color outside the lines. Which is fine if your goal is getting a few shots in the magazine, then fading into the cracks. Beschen was groomed in this environment, but early on it appeared he would shirk the trend.

His rise, like his style, was methodical -- success at the amateur level followed by domination on the minor league circuit. In 1991, after being dropped by his sponsors, he blitzed the Bud Tour, qualifying for the next year's WCT. He periodically made comments on the staleness of it all, but it just seemed like a kid spouting off.

By 1994, he was ready to challenge for the title. After dumping Slater in the final of the megalithic US Open at Huntington, he smelled blood.

But it was not to be. Beschen spent the next several years wrestling with the system, earning the occasional victory, but not winning the favor of the judges. In close battles, he lost by the slightest of margins. All the while, he grumbled about changing the system. The "three-to-the-beach" mentality, he contended, should be dismissed. With all the groundbreaking surfing happening down the street from his house, he wasn't seeing the tour evolving. Beschen skipped events in apparent protest, incurred hefty fines and generally bit the hand that fed him, sometimes with verbal attacks in the media or at the judges themselves.

When the spirit hit him, however, the results were magical. In 1996, Beschen's runner-up season, he recorded the only perfect heat in ASP history by pulling through three flawless Kirra cylinders. Not even Slater, who previously held the heat record, could match that feat. (Kelly later posted his own flawless performance with a pair of 10-pointers at Teahupo'o in 2005, by which time judges only scored two rides.) The same year, Beschen again hit top form, taking out Japan's Marui Pro and the Quiksilver Pro in the dreamlike lefts of G-Land for back-to-back victories. But in the end, he couldn't keep the champ at bay. Slater's seven wins for the season kept him from winning his first title.

Considered the only contemporary to actively challenge Slater, Beschen never returned to the same form. With talk of a rival "IS" tour that was tailor-made for his personal views and abilities, he slipped into the middle ranks of the WCT. In 2001, he fell off, then re-qualified for a single season in 2004. A Surfer Poll favorite, he made several attempts to parlay his popularity into a post-contest living, first starting a short-lived clothing venture called Monument, then taking an ambassador role with Tavik. In 2009, he began offering competitive coaching services to would-be WCT surfers from his home on the North Shore, where he resides with his wife Sophia and sons Noah and Koda.

But his biggest influence may as the godfather of the modern contest format, as the ASP finally stopped rewarding safe, three-to-the beach surfing in favor of aerials and other high-risk maneuvers -- the very philosophy Beschen pushed for during his long tenure. Too bad he had to sacrifice his career to see it happen.

-- Jason Borte (updated, December 2009)

Click here to find all the Shane Beschen photos and editorial on Surfline.