While the team at URBNSURF Melbourne are busy preparing their site for their official opening in January 2020, Australian pro surfer Tom Carroll dropped into Wavegarden’s demo center in the Basque mountains on a recent promotional tour in Europe. Tom talks us through his visit, where he exchanges a few Reef waves with local Basque pro surfer Aritz Aranburu before sharing some small ones with a family of beginners.
“I am just observing a little family having a surf together”, said Tom on arrival, peering across at the beginner waves. “It’s hard to get it through my head that you can actually have a wave here in amongst this beautiful scenery.”
Tom’s gaze narrowed as the first expert waves peeled through the Reef area. “It actually reminds me of a really, really good version of my home break where I learnt how to surf. But this is like a perfect version of it,” Tom said eagerly leaping into his warm-up routine.
Local Basque pro surfer Aritz Aranburu was delighted to share the session with his childhood hero. “I grew up watching Tom in surf videos. He has always been my favourite surfer and it’s a real pleasure to surf with him today”.
Tom Carroll is no stranger to artificial waves, having won a world tour contest in one of the first wave pools ever made in Allentown, Pennsylvania back in 1985. However, he was quick to understand that Wavegarden’s technology is set to make a bigger, longer-lasting impression on the world than earlier creations due to the long list of benefits that quality, high frequency waves would have on learning and training.
And, when asked what impact this could have on his beloved sport, Tom responded: “What’s going to happen in the future? I have no idea. It’s pretty cool though, the kids feel safe and they get to learn something pretty cool… riding a wave.»
