Taylor Knox

Taylor Knox is an American professional surfer, born on 15 May 1971 in Thousand Oaks, California. He began surfing at eight, moved with his family to Carlsbad at thirteen and, after back surgery at fifteen following a skateboarding accident, recovered to pursue a professional career. In 1990 he finished fourth at the World Amateur Championships in Japan, one place ahead of his teammate Kelly Slater, and he began his ASP World Tour campaign in 1993. In February 1998 he won the inaugural K2 Big-Wave Challenge with a 52 foot ride at Todos Santos. After a break in 1999 he returned in 2001 and reached his best tour rating of fourth. He was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame at Huntington Beach in 2011 and retired from the tour in 2013. He is also known for his power surfing, which led to the Channel Islands Dagger surfboard designed with Al Merrick in 2012, and his face was used as the model for the character Francis in the video game Left 4 Dead.