“Kiama’s Aron Cox lays concrete for a crust and hunts swells around the globe for thrills.” That was the caption used when Tracks posted Cox’s 2018 highlight reel titled Lemons For Breakfast. Nias, Cloudbreak and Teahupoo all featured in what was impressive clip heavy in heavy water.
My initial thought, and excuse my ignorance, was who the fuck is Aron Cox? My second thought was; and where the fuck does he come from? Having watched the clip it came as no surprise that it turns out that Cox is from Kiama, on the South Coast of NSW. Cox is the latest in the long line of underground, and aboveground, chargers emerging from the coast’s myriad of granite and conglomerate reefs. It had me thinking that surely there is no stretch of Australian coastline that has produced more successful slab hunters than the South Coast.
For argument and definition's sake we’ll label the South Coast anywhere south of Sydney. Wollongong and Port Kembla might have a case for being cleaved off as its own individual surf area, but we’ll include that stretch so we can add Terry Richardson, Mick Lowe and Robbie Page, perhaps three of the most successful and hardest charging South Coast surfers of all time, to the list.
Like those three it’s no surprise that all other elite surfers that have lived just off the Princes Highway were all known as heavy water specialists. Chris “Critta” Byrne, Phil MacDonald, Kai Otton, Owen, Mikey and Tyler Wright and Shane Wehner, to name a few, all brought an idiosyncratic South Coast level of commitment to the highest of competitive realms. All also stood out as soon as there was serious amount of water drawing off any reef anywhere in the world.
The sheer quality and quantity of waves has had a way of moulding surfers lucky enough to grow up there. And although many have made it the top, the area’s breaks are a double-edged sword. Sometimes they have provided a hindrance to competitive success. The thought of cut throat hassling in two foot beachbreaks loses even more of its appeal when you could be surfing six foot slabs at home with just you and your mates out.
Chris Homer, a semi deity on the South Coast and regarded as one of the best barrel riders Australia has ever produced, had the talent to match the very best in the world. Yet with Redsands and Razors seemingly bending to suit his style, what was the point in leaving the jewels at home to chase sponsorship and prizemoney.
Dean Bowen, Glenn Kelly, Paul Morgan and Ant McDonald, again to mention just a few, were surfers that could match any surfer on their day, yet struggled when the wave quality dipped. Yet as soon as the waves got serious, their competitive odds shortened considerably.
That’s why the next generation of South Coast surfers are tending to make their name, not in the competitive realm, but in the big-wave arena. Russell Bierke, is the latest and quite possibly will be the greatest. At just 21 he has already pushed himself into the very elite pack of big-wave surfers on the planet. His big-wave ceiling his unrivaled, something the Ulladulla locals have been saying since he started surfing catching sets at 10-foot Ulladulla Bombie when he was 8.
Russell Bierke – By A Thread from O'Neill on Vimeo.
Dylan Longbottom too is one of the pioneer South Coast freesurfers who made a career out of packing any sized barrel that came his way. Now a shaper it was his boards that Aron Cox was riding as he negotiated those slabs and steps all over the world in 2018. Cox is now making a name for himself, just as fellow slab hunters like Scott Dennis and Brett Burcher have imprinted themselves on Australian surfing by throwing themselves over South Coast ledges, then taking those skills around the planet
Of course these surfers are just the tip, and visible, wedge of the talent. From Kiama to Kiola, from Bulli to Bermegui, this stretch of coastline is hard packed with hard core surfers. It’s a unique breeding ground that produces a special type of surfer off its unceasing conveyor belt. Aron Cox is the latest. He won’t be the last.
