Tom Butler has one helluva big wave resume. He’s moved well past the “up and coming” status usually reserved for guys grinding it out for a spot on the WSL’s Big Wave Tour. It was less than a year ago he was flung into a bomb at Nazare that nabbed an entry for Billabong’s ride of the year. Just over a month later he navigated his way through one of the sketchiest Irish barrels the world has ever seen at Mullaghmore. And this is just to point out a couple of the freight trains the 6 foot 2 hellman from the UK impressed the world with, because listing all the others worthy of mention would just take too long.
You get the point. The guy gets big barrels. Towing, paddling, whatever it takes to be on it when the men get separated from the boys. And yet he still has to bust his ass to turn more heads and someday earn a spot on the Big Wave Tour. It says something to the caliber of talent in the WSL’s big wave surfing ranks. But nonetheless it’s great to watch somebody passionately pursuing a dream, and that’s exactly what Tom Butler is doing.
