Hawaiian surfer Sion Milosky died while surfing Maverick's in Half Moon Bay, California on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Image: AbstractLines.TV
Hawaiian surfer Sion Milosky died while surfing Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay, California on Wednesday, March 16, 2011.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Milosky, 35, drowned after suffering a two-wave hold down in massive surf. Fellow big-wave surfer Nathan Fletcher found his body around 6:50 PM at the mouth of the Half Moon Bay Harbor, which is nearly a mile from Maverick’s.
“Sion was dominating it. He was out there catching so many waves,” Ken “Skindog” Collins, who was hosting Milosky in Santa Cruz, told the Sentinel. “That’s what blows my mind the most is that he was doing all that, and then he drowned.”
In January, Laguna Beach surfer Jacob Trette nearly drowned while surfing Maverick’s. He was rescued by photographer Russell Ord via jetski and later transported to Stanford Medical Center where he made a full recovery. In 1994, Hawaiian Mark Foo died while surfing Maverick’s.
Milosky, who worked as a welder, was awarded $25,000 when he was named the North Shore Underground Surfer of the Year last month by Surfing Magazine. In an interview, Milosky said that he aspired to surf in The Jay at Maverick’s and to win the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year Award. Surfing Magazine also claimed that Milosky paddled into the biggest wave ever surfed. When asked what he would do if surfing paid no money, Milosky responded: “Work to surf and live my life exactly how I do now, no regrets.”
Milosky is survived by his wife and two daughters.
