He is just a kid from Kurnell but when Mark Occhilupo won the 1999 world title he also completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sport.
Occy, a founding life member of the Cronulla Boardriders Club, finished third in the world as a teenager before dropping out. Then in 1999 won three of 13 events (in Tahiti, Fiji, and Spain) and at age 33 won the world championship.
Australia's greatest competitive surfer, seven-time world champion Layne Beachley AO, said “from the ‘Raging Bull’ to the proud dad of two beautiful boys and everything in between – party like its 1999.”
Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew AM, 1978 world champion, echoed the thoughts of the whole room at Snapper Rocks Surf Club, saying “there were times when we didn't think you’d make it to 50” telling some heavy stories from Hawaii – in and out of the water.
