Northern Beaches fireman, Tommy Myers, is running hot but it’s got nothing to do with fighting a summer blaze. When we chat on the phone, the part time carpenter and father of three has just returned from L.A. with a Big Wave Challenge ‘Ride of the Year’ award in his top pocket, a Florence Marine deal on the make, and Nathan Florence on a social chat, eager to line up a swell. Tommy concedes he is still grappling with the whirlwind success that has come on the back of two waves ridden in his proverbial backyard at Queenscliff Bombie.     

“It’s just surreal. I think it’s going to take a bit of time to get used to the fact that I actually won that award, let alone doing it right at home on a wave that I can see from my house.”

In case you missed them, Tommy’s, two huffing peaks at Queenscliff Bombie came in the space of five months. Not once but twice, he hucked into 12-foot of vertical blue and speared his Nick Blair 8’6” through cavernous portals of Pacific. These were waves distinguished as much by their girth as their height. On both occasions Tommy took off ultra-late, picking critical lines that seemed to redefine the way Queenscliff Bombie could be ridden. You can split hairs to determine which is the better ride but if you asked Tommy, he’d probably give a nod to the first one – Good Friday 2025 – the wave that won him the XXL ‘Ride of the Year’. However, he was as surprised as anyone by his brace of rides.  

Marinating in the afterglow of his accolade at the XXL awards, Tommy traded beers with big-wave luminaries like Kai Lenny and Albee Layer and wondered how a fireman from Freshwater, had suddenly ...