Mark Occhilupo
| Mark Occhilupo | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born |
16 June 1966 Kurnell, New South Wales |
| Residence | Tweed Heads, New South Wales |
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg) |
| Surfing career | |
| Best year | 1st (1999) |
| Career earnings | $652,125 |
| Major achievements | World Surfing Champion 1999 |
| Surfing specifications | |
| Stance | Goofy |
Marco Jay Luciano "Mark" Occhilupo (born 12 February 1966) is an Australian surfer and winner of the 1999 World surfing champion title.
Occhilupo, also known as Occy, began his professional career in the World Championship Tour (WCT) at the age of 17.
Occhilupo was born on 16 June 1966 in Kurnell, New South Wales, where he began surfing at the age of nine. He soon progressed to neighboring Cronulla.
He won his first amateur Schoolboys contest at 13 and followed up with two Cadet State Titles. After the 10th grade, he left home as an ASP trialist. Virtually unnoticed, he sneaked into the Top 16 at year's end, securing a seed for the following year.
In 1984, Occy shot to the top of the ASP ratings as a cocky 17-year-old and set performance standards over the next few years that still haven't been matched. At Jeffreys Bay, his power and aggression turned backhand surfing into an advantage.
Even in America, where Tom Curren had become somewhat of a surfing deity, Occy was adored. In surfing's biggest spectator event, the Op Pro, the two engaged in a rivalry. With aspirations in the acting field, Occy played himself in the 1987 Hollywood Cult-Classic, North Shore. Professional surfing was peaking, and Curren and Occy were the superheroes, delivering the surf industry unprecedented wealth. He hovered around the top five in the ratings, but some unfortunate influences steered him from a world title that many felt he deserved.
However, the popular surfer struggled with depression. Years on the tour burned him out. He lost focus; he lost his desire to surf. The young, aggressive surfer faded away from the '80s spotlight and into a subdued existence. Then, in 1988, his life started to unravel. From a simple and busy existence of vegetarianism, yoga, and competition, he began to indulge in activities that he had avoided in his early life because he hadn't had time to be a rascal teenager. Indulging in drug and alcohol use, partying, and showing disregard for his gift became the object of his life. A touchy subject still to this day, Occy basically lived the young Aussie surfer's lifestyle typical of the time. Burned out on the tour, he threw a quarterfinal heat at the Op and headed home to Cronulla. At that point, he struggled with motivation and his ever-fluctuating weight. He quit the World Tour in the early 1990s.
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