Liz Hogarth speaks to the winner of this year’s Jesus Pro-Am, the veteran professional surfer Glyndyn Ringrose.
Veteran surfer Glyndyn Ringrose, 30, fought off stiff competition from local boy Kirk Flintoff to win last month’s Jesus Pro-Am Surfing Contest at Maroubra beach. The warm autumn sun brought out a strong crowd to see the 130 elite surfers vie for a share in the $7000 prize pool.
But the competition, organised by Christian Surfers, wasn’t about money. In his acceptance speech Glyndyn said: “The reason we are here is Jesus; he gives us direction and hope. I am just so stoked to know him.”
Easy to say, perhaps, at an event organised by Christians, but Glyndyn claims to be happy to talk about his faith, wherever, and at whatever level he competes.
“I talk about my faith quite a lot,” he says. “Generally they (fellow competitors) notice something different about me. For instance they often ask why I don’t come and drink and party with them and this gives me a chance to explain what my faith means to me. But now, I think most people on the tour (World Championship Tour) know I am Christian.”
He says that most surfers are accepting of his faith and a number often ask him questions about it. “But,” he says jokingly, “I think a lot of them take advantage of it because they think I am such a nice guy.”
A nice guy he may be, but he is also a pretty formidable competitor. Glyndyn is a former World Championship Tour surfer. For the uninitiated this means that he has competed with the very best in the world. He still hopes to be World Champion one day. “There is still a desire there to be World Champion,” he says. “But it is not my focus. I believe in putting all things in God’s hands because he knows what’s good for us.”
His trust in God was nurtured from a young age. His parents were missionaries and he spent his early years in Vanuatu and Fiji.
“In a way I have always been a Christian,” he says. “Though my faith has been stronger at times and weaker at others.”
Living in the islands of the South Pacific may have nurtured his faith, but it was only when the family returned to Australia and settled in Port Macquarie that he developed an interest in surfing. “I saw actual waves,” he says, “and I was attracted to it right away.”
At first surfing was just fun, but when the family moved to Victoria when he was 17, he started to compete more seriously. Victories at state and national level soon followed.
Currently, he lives on Philip Island in Victoria with his wife Katy and baby son Seth. He surfs full time and reckons to be away for three months a year on average. This is, however, an improvement on one year when he says he was only at home for about six weeks. But, when he is at home and not practising, he can be found working in a local surf shop or doing some coaching. It might also be possible to catch a glimpse of him in church. He and his wife attend the Cowes Christian Family Church on the Island.
He knows he is very fortunate to be able to earn his living pursuing a sport he loves in locations of often breathtaking beauty.
“When you are out there surfing you are in nature,” he says. “It is really a blessed thing to be able to do something so natural and raw. You are out there with the ocean and the wind and you are so conscious that God has made it all.”
However, he does not see a big difference between being a Christian, living out his faith among the high rollers, and being a Christian in any other sphere of life.
“I believe in Jesus and I believe the Bible is the key to all things,” he says. “In surfing it is the same as in anything else. The important thing is to put Jesus first in whatever you are doing.”
Though undoubtedly true, there is one big difference between his working life and that of most Christians in Australia. Glyndyn faces possible injury or even death every time he ventures out into the ocean. “I pray for protection each day,” he says.
