Rapid rise then fall then rise again of Aussie surfing legend Mark Occhilupo

Mark Occhilupo (or ‘Occy’ as he’s better known) was regarded as a surfing prodigy from his early teens. A goofy-footer (right foot forward on the board), he grew up and learned to surf on the beaches at Cronulla. He joined the pro surfing circuit in 1984 when he was just 17.

Occy quickly made an impact on the world surfing tour, becoming a regular in the top five over the next few years. He won the iconic Pipeline Masters in Hawaii when he was just 19 and developed a great rivalry with America’s three-time world champion Tom Curren in the 1980s.

The downward spiral

But he also hit drugs, alcohol and the partying lifestyle hard. By the time Occy was 22, he was burned out and suffering depression. He quit the tour when he was supposed to be at his peak, seemingly destined to never fulfil his undoubted potential to become a world champion.

Occy’s life went into a major downward spiral in the years afterwards. He continued with alcohol and drugs, his weight ballooned by over 30 kilograms, and he had a mental breakdown.

“I came home and hibernated. I put on a lot of weight, which gave me a lot of anxiety. I was paranoid about anyone seeing me like that. I stayed inside. It kind of snowballed. I was stuck in that zone,” he has said about that time in his life.

Turning his life around

Eventually, Occy sought help from a therapist to turn his life around. He gave up alcohol and drugs and lost weight. Initially, he just returned to advertising work for Billabong, who had been his major sponsor. He needed to look healthy for that. But then when he got healthy again, thoughts of a comeback to the pro tour started entering his mind.

He returned to the world surfing circuit in 1997 at the age of 31. He’d been away from the tour for nine years and he discovered that surfers “had gotten a lot better and a lot faster.”

Amazingly, he finished second to Kelly Slater on the world tour in his first full year back. In 1999, he went one better and won the world title, becoming the oldest surfer at the time to do it. He finished second again two years later before finally calling it quits in his early forties, satisfied with his career and what he achieved.

“It was such a sanctifying feeling to get to come back,” he has said. “Everything was great after that, career-wise.”

Although he got his professional life back on track when he made his comeback, he still has to work hard to maintain his ongoing mental health. He believes he has an addictive personality, and that he needs to channel it by keeping busy.

“With an addictive personality, when you get bored your vices become really relevant at that moment and your mind starts wandering. It’s like, too much time to think.

I keep super busy all day, go to sleep early and then wake up early and do it all again,” he has said.

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