|
A dedicated competitor for as long as some pro surfers have been alive 32 years. In the face of uniformity, Cheyne Horan held fast to his beliefs and, in the end, came out on top.
Born in Sydney the son of an Australian speed skating champion, Horan began surfing on a Coolite at Bondi Beach at age 10. He won the New South Wales Juniors title in 1974 and was the Australian schoolboys champion in 1976. That year, he captured the coke Australian Open Skateboard Championship. The only surfer / skater to hold both titles and also in the same year.
Professional surfing’s first tour, the IPS, launched the same year with 16 year old Horan jumping aboard. In his debut at Sydney’s Surfabout, he finished seventh. The teenaged speedster soon became the youngest member of the Bronzed Aussies – a team of professionally minded competitors intent on gaining mainstream exposure for the sport.
Horan finished runner up to Wayne Bartholomew for the 1978 world title, winning the Waimea 5000 in Brazil and appearing set for the top, pushing Horan’s record of runner up finishes to four.
During that stretch, he was the fastest surfer alive, refusing to relinquish single fins to jump on the twin fin or the thruster bandwagon. A staunch advocate of Geoff McCoys needle-nosed, wide tailed Lazor Zaps, he was at times unbeatable in small to medium surf.
A radical surfer for his era, Horan won the inaugural Op Pro in 1982 with a crowd pleasing backhand 360 in the final. His popularity culminated with a win in the 1983 Surfer Poll.
With McCoy and designer Ben Lexcen, Horan developed a winged keel fin based on an America’s Cup sailboard design.
He produced a movie “Scream in Blue”, chronicling his life and views in 1987. In 1989, Horan won the final event of the season, the Billabong Pro, and re-emerged in the top 16 – this time on conventional equipment. The $50,000 win was his first in Hawaii.
Before ending his world tour career in 1993, Horan accumulated 12 victories and seven top five, year end finishes.
Six years after leaving the pro tour, Horan found a shot at redemption with the Quiksilver World Masters Championship in France. Nvever wavering in his dedication to fitness and competition, he out dueled his old adversaries in perfect beachbreak barrels and claimed the under 40 world title.
By: Jason Borte, October 2000
Contest Record
1973 1st Sydney Titles Maroubra, NSW U15
1973 3rd State Titles Narrabeen U15
1974 1st Sydney titles Maroubra, NSW U15
1974 1st State Titles Narrabeen,NSW U15
1974 1st Christian State The Far, NSW U19
1975 1st Sydney Schoolboys Maroubra, NSW U19
1975 1st NSW Schoolboys Narr U19
1975 2nd Australian Duranbah, QLd U19
1975 1st Sydney Titles Maroubra, NSW U19
1975 2nd State Woolongong, NSW U19
1975 4th Australian Pt Leo, VIC U19
1976 1st Sydney Schoolboys Maroubra, NSW U19
1976 1st NSW Schoolboys Warriewood, NSW U19
1976 1st Australia Schoolboys Duranbah, QLd U19
1976 1st Sydney Titles Bondi, Mar, Bronte U19
1976 1st NSW Titles Narrabeen,NSW U19
1977 4th Australian Titles Manly, Narrabeen U19
1977 7th Coca Cola Surfabout Narrabeen,NSW IPS
1977 3rd Pro Class Trials Sunset, Hawaii IPS
1978 2nd Hang Ten Cabana, S.Africa IPS
1978 1st Waimea 5000 Rio De Janiero, Brazil IPS
1978 2nd World Team Sunset, Hawaii Aust Team
1978 2nd IPS World Ratings
1978 1st Katin Team Challenge Huntington, USA Aust Team
1979 2nd Stubbies Surf Classic Burleigh, QLD IPS
1979 1st Coca Cola Surfabout Bells, VIC IPS
1979 2nd Gunston 500 Durban, S.Africa IPS
1979 3rd World Cup Haleiwa, Hawaii IPS
1979 3rd Duke Classic Sunset, Hawaii Aust Team
1979 3rd World Cup Haleiwa, Hawaii IPS
1979 2nd World Team Sunset, Hawaii IPS
1979 2nd IPS World Ratings Aust Team
1980 1st Japan Cup Osaka, Japan IPS
1980 2nd Hang Ten Durban, S.Africa IPS
1980 3rd Waimea 5000 Rio De Janiero, Brazil IPS
1980 2nd World Team Sunset, Hawaii Aust Team
1980 5th IPS World Ratings
1981 2nd Easter Classic Bells, VIC IPS
1981 3rd Om Bali Pro Uluwatu, Bali
1981 1st Gunston 500 Durban, S.Africa IPS
1981 3rd Mainstay Magnum Durban, S.Africa IPS
1981 1st World Teams Durban, S.Africa Aust Team
1981 1st Waimea 5000 Priaina, Brazil
1981 1st Euro Pro Fistral, England
1981 1st World Teams Sunset, Hawaii Aust Team
1981 1st Quiksilver Teams Newport, USA
1981 2nd IPS World Ratings
1982 1st Straight Talk Tyre Open Cronulla, NSW IPS
1982 1st Stubbies Surf Classic Burleigh, QLD IPS
1982 2nd SISA World Team Durban, S.Africa Aust Team
1982 1st OP Pro Huntington, USA IPS
1982 3rd World Surfing Pro Hebara, Japan IPS
1982 2nd IPS World Ratings
1983 3rd Atlantic City Pro New Jersey, USA ASP
1983 2nd Euro Pro Fistral, England ASP
1983 2nd Op Pro Huntington, USA ASP
1983 3rd ASP World Ratings
1984 1st Ripcurl Pro Bells, VIC
1985 1st SAND Surfers Against Nuclear Destruction Noosa, Qld
1985 2nd OP Pro Huntington, USA ASP
1985 1st Record Bar Wrightsville, USA ASP
1985 2nd Marui Pro Hebara, Japan ASP
1985 1st Philishave Triggs Pt, WA ASP
1985 3rd ASP World Ratings
1986 2nd World Surfing Series Triggs Pt, WA Aust Team
1986 3rd World Surfing Pro Hebara, Japan ASP
1986 Invited to Eddie Aikau Big World Team
1986 1st World Team Manly, NSW Aust-II Team
1987 Invited to Eddie Aikau Big World Team
1988 Invited to Eddie Aikau Big World Team
1988 1st Bondi Boardriders Bondi, NSW
1989 Invited to Eddie Aikau Big World Team
1989 1st Bondi Boardriders Bondi, NSW
1990 1st Billabong Pro Sunset, Hawaii
1990-2000 Invited to Eddie Aikau Big World Team
1991 3rd Surfmasters Grand Plage, Rance
1993 2nd Surf the Edge Pepsi Gibson Steps, VIC
1998 2nd World Team Challenge Big Wave Event Mexico
1999 1st Quiksilver World Masters Lafatania, France
2000 2nd Champion of Champions Noosa, Qld
2000 3rd SLSC Australian Titles Currumbin, Qld
2001 1st QLD Masters
2001 2nd QLD Open
2002 2nd QLD Open
2002 1st QLD Masters
2002 5th World Cup Tow in Jaws Maui
2002 2nd XXL Big Wave Event Hawaii
2003 1st QLD Opens
2003 1st QLD Masters
2003 2nd XXL Big Wave Event
2004 2nd QLD Open
2004 1st QLD Masters
2004 1st QLD Longboard Champion
2004 3rd Australian Longboard Opens
2004 2nd Australian Longboard Masters
Coaching History
Pam Burridge - through her career, World Woman's Champion
Nicky Woodk - youngest to win a Pro Contest (16 years of age)
Damian Hardman - 2 times world champion
Todd Ingham - won Australian titles
Mark Occiluppo - won many pro contests and world champion
Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew - Japan Cup Pro Contest 1980 - tutored to do a 360 turn
Rob Pages - first pro contect Pipeline Masters, Hawaii
Shane Powell - from bottom of the ratings to number 2 and first Pro contest
Pauline Mencer - winner of her first big wave contest - world champion
Luke Hitchings - has gone Pro
Huntington Beach High School 1978
Australia National Professional Team - 1st Australia II Team 1978,79,80.81.82,85,86 captain coach
Brazil National Team 1986
Hawaii National Team 1988
Coached Bondi Board Riders 1987 - 1997
ITN / Bondi Board Riders 1st Australia Teams Challenge, Surf League, Captain/coach 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1988
President of Bondi Riders from 1984 to 1997
Australian Team coached in Hawaii 1993
Australian Champion Luke Hitchings 1994
Australian Champion Tom Whittaker 1996
Beginners to Intermediate at Bondi Beach 1978-1997
Beginners to Intermediate at Surfers Paradise 1999-2005
Currumbin State High School 1999
Currumbin Board Riders 2000
Indonesian National Team 1999
Australia Big Wave Team Mexico 1998 - 2nd place
State Champion under 16 Andrew Levitt 2002
State Champion under 19 Andrew Levitt 2002
Australian Champion under 16 Andrew Levitt 2002
State Champion under 16 Girls Renee Hyman
Australia Champion Senior and Over 35's Mandy Roberts 2003
State Champion Under 14 Boys Lance Perry 2004
Australian Champion Mandy Roberts 2004
Australian Opens Champion Jay Levitt 2005
Australian Masters Champion Phil Tanner 2005
Australian Champions Surf Board Riding Team 1999 - Surfers Paradise
Australian Champions Surf Board Riding Team 2000 - Surfers Paradise
Australian Champions Surf Board Riding Team 2002 - Surfers Paradise
Australian Champions Surf Board Riding Team 2003 - Surfers Paradise
Australian Champions Surf Board Riding Team 2005 - Surfers Paradise
Cheyne Horan Website
|
|
Cheyne
Cheyne "Jaws" Big Wave Riding
|
|
