Bob Pike

Bob Pike was an Australian big wave surfer, born Robert Hughes Pike in Sydney on 20 May 1940 and dying on 20 May 1999. The son of a former surf champion, he entered his first surf competition at fourteen and soon became known for his skill in large surf. In 1961 he travelled to Hawaii to ride some of the state's biggest breaks, and in 1962 he won a shorebreak competition in Peru, making him one of the first Australian competitors to win an international surfing contest. He later left professional surfing, disliking the way competition had taken over the sport, kept surfing recreationally and became station chief of the Narrabeen Fire Station. He appeared in the surfing films Locked In!, Stop the Wave, I Want to Get Off and, in a cameo, The Endless Summer. Manly Council dedicated a plaque to him on Manly Beach in February 2000.