Barton Lynch, all beard and style. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Way back in 1988, Barton Lynch won a world championship. The WSL was the ASP at the time, and pro surfing was a very different animal. Surfing, however, despite its progression since then, hasn’t changed at its core, and Lynch is a surfer through and through. And there’s no place like Hawaii for a person who has spent a lifetime riding waves.
“As a former world champion surfer, I’ve ridden waves all over the globe, but nothing compares to the magic of Hawaii,” he says. “Whether it’s backhand surfing, wave reading, or just soaking in the ocean energy, this one’s for the lovers of pure surfing.”
The video you see here is short — just a single wave — but it shows a lifetime of learning in 40 seconds. “This is what it’s all about,” he writes. “Clean lines, power turns, and staying stoked no matter the age or era.”
Barton was once asked whether surfing is a sport or an art. To him, it’s both, but also something else entirely: it’s medicine. And whether you think it’s a sport, an art, or somewhere in between, we can likely all agree that whatever it is, it’s good for the soul.
