Moves for Seniors Blog

Vince Simansky was 40 years old when he realized he was one of the most mature surfers on the water on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

“I also noticed that my surfing style was different, more ‘old school’ or ‘classic,’” Vince writes on his blog. “Don’t get me wrong, I admire their style, but it is not mine. I don’t know if I could do it if I wanted to after knee surgery and two back surgeries!”

Vince’s first response was to start a surf club for men over 35 – but it needed a name. In pure jest, he began calling it “Old Man Surf Club.” The name stuck. His club’s logo? A surfer sprinting out into the ocean, board held high above his head, ready to take on the waves…with a flabby gut spilling out over his shorts.

“This is because as we get older and get jobs, families, etc., we tend to put on a few pounds,” Vince writes. “That doesn’t stop you from surfing; you just need a thicker board.”

Old Man Surf Club isn’t exactly a new idea. Back in the 1980s, there was an establishment at San Onofre State Beach in California called Old Man’s. The place was the headquarters for a group called the San Onofre Surfing Club. The San Onofre Surfing Club wasn’t just any old surfing club – it was residence to a few folks the LA Times took the liberty of labeling the “oldest surfers in Southern California.” The club was notorious for their exceptionally laid-back culture (yes, even more laid-back than your usual surfer). There was a subset of the club called the “Cocktail Crew,” known for (you guessed it), the beverages that would inevitably be floating around in their presence.

While both the East and West Coasts have their surfing clubs, some of the most active senior surfers call Hawaii home. A 1999 documentary titled Surfing For Life tracks the lives and surfing history of ten senior surfers. Seven of those surfers were Hawaii natives. At the time the film was shot, those surfers’ ages ranged from 60 to 91.

Then there’s Australian author Malcolm Knox, age 48. Knox picked up surfing the year he turned 37. What began as a hobby quickly became a lifestyle. “It was not for fitness that I took up surfing,” he writes in a July 2011 story for The Guardian. “Surfing took me up.” Ten years (and one novel about surfing) later, Knox joined a competitive group of surfers over 45. Knox is still hanging ten. Well, 48.