Ben Severson Bodyboarding pioneer and legend....

Ben was Mike Stewarts nemesis in the 80's, I think it was the sports first real rivalry.

Ben was super quick and was able to pull off awesome spinners on any section of the wave and could get deeper in a tube than any other rider.

Ben was responsible for pushing board designs when everyone was riding a Morey Boogie Mach 7-7 and helped cement BZ in the history books with the classic T-10 channel possibly being the most popular of these boards.

His innovation and forward thinking encouraged riders to go for designs appropriate to their size and style.

Also along with Stewart Ben pioneered riding Teahupo in the late 80's, in Bens own words......

" I'm 53 and was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii, I started bodyboarding when I was 8 years old in Waikiki and I got into it because I just wanted to get tubed, it was as simple as that.

When I grew up I looked up to Gerry Lopez, my local breaks were Sandy beach and pipeline.

Pipeline is still my favourite break to this day.

My first board was a Morey Boogie kit which I had to glue together.

I was part of the Sandy beach boys crew growing up with legends JP Patterson, Pat Caldwell, Jack Lindholm, Keith Sasaki and photographer/videographer Tom Boyle.

I had a long a successful contest career when I was younger which was well documented going head to head with all the greats on many occasions and finally being crowned world bodyboarding champion at Pipeline in 1986.

These days I am the event director for the Hawaii Pro Bodyboard tour, I won the masters division at Sandy Beach this summer.

I also manage a property company, I fit in some lifeguarding and I manage Ben Severson Designs (BSD).

I love designing products that help riders perform at their best.

BSD is now making stock boards for the retail market which saw the hugely popular release of the Ben Board, my love and understanding of shaping has driven this.

We also make custom boards and I love nothing more than working with riders on an individual basis to fine tune a custom board.

It's great helping someone find better performance, when you see they have been using the wrong equipment and to then help design for them and their style of riding, you just can't beat that feeling.

I still love to get out these days and I am as passionate now as I have ever been.

Please come check out my new website for just advise or to discuss your custom requirements.

www.benseverson.com

Thank you LidLife for sharing a little insight into my life.....

Photo credits:

Tom Boyle

Chris Stroh

James Kaeka

Ben thank you for featuring you are such an inspiration to so many girls and guys out there......

Next week we head back to Brasil to catch up with female pro rider Alexandra Ereiro.