Mike Parsons

Mike Parsons (born March 13, 1965) is an American professional surfer and surfing coach from California. Raised in Laguna Beach, he began surfing at six and took second place in the Junior Division of the United States Surfing Championships in 1983. He became known for tow-in big-wave surfing: in 2001 he was towed into a 66-foot wave at Cortes Bank and received 66,000 dollars from the Billabong XXL awards, then the largest prize in professional surfing, and he rode a 64-foot wave at Jaws on Maui that opened the film Billabong Odyssey. On January 5, 2008 he rode a wave at Cortes Bank judged 77 feet by the Billabong XXL, recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest wave surfed until Garrett McNamara bettered it in 2011. He coached Kolohe Andino from 2011, survived a broken neck in 2013, and entered the Surfer's Hall of Fame in 2008.