Tom Lowe knew that surfing was going to be his life from an early age. And he willed that life into reality with complete and total commitment. Photos: YouTube//Screenshot
Tom Lowe is a different breed of surfer. There are everyday surfers like most of us. There are world champions like John John Florence. There are big wave surfers like Laird Hamilton. Then there is Tom Lowe. And in Yeti’s latest YouTube offering, a film called Let Me Live, Keith Malloy tells Lowe’s story.
“When the other surfers are numb and heading to the pub, Tom Lowe is still out charging in the cold, Cornwall waters,” the description reads. “A passion rather than a profession, he never cared if anyone saw him surf. But a friendship with photographer Mickey Smith changed that, opening a path for Tom to earn a living doing what makes him feel most alive.”
You might remember Mickey Smith from a few films, but one in particular stands out. It’s called Dark Side of the Lens, and for my money, it’s one of the best surf-related films out there. Smith played a big role in Lowe’s career in surfing. But what played the biggest role in that career trajectory was Lowe’s willingness to just… go.
Big wave surfing isn’t exactly a viable profession for most guys from England, but Lowe is cut from a different cloth.
“He was a sports nut,” Lowe’s father said. “He was very good. He was a good cricketer and he was a good little swimmer. Then when he found surfing — I don’t know, he was 12, 13, 14 — then he was a surf nut.”
Once he started, there wasn’t any stopping. His parents would have to drag him from the water. He’d get himself kicked out of class when the tide was getting close to being right. He was told he was wasting his life by playing in the water, but Lowe knew in his heart of hearts that it wasn’t a waste, whether it turned into a career or not.
“It was definitely a case of, ‘I’m going to run off into the fields and skip school and go surfing,'” he said. “Because, you know, fuck you.”
In St. Ives, where Lowe hails from, if you weren’t getting good grades, you’d likely end up in the trades. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but surfing wasn’t even considered a way to make a living. But passion, when it’s strong enough, can trump anything. And Lowe had passion.
“You’ve got to be pretty resilient,” Lowe said as he stood in front of a wave he grew up surfing. “You’ve got to be keen as fuck and resilient, because all them times you’re down here and it’s sleeting; freezing, shittiest onshore winds ever, and you’re out there, numb. For some reason, you know you’ve got to put that energy in because something’s going to come of it. But it’s hard to keep that belief, for sure.”
After he was done with school, Lowe would spend months on surf trips. He’d go to the usual surf trip places, like Bali or Australia, and run up his credit cards in pursuit of waves. Then he’d come back for the summer, break his back working two jobs to pay them back, do the whole thing again the next winter.
Then, he went to Ireland and a path through the woods emerged. A path with a destination. Mickey Smith was in Ireland, devoted to photography and filmmaking, and together, they began walking that unknown path. Walking with them were a few others, like Fergal Smith. Together, they created something amazing. A small community of incredibly talented and creative people all with a shared passion for the sea.
“The thing that struck me about him was that he literally had no idea how good he was in the water,” Smith remembered. “He had no expectation of being a professional surfer. He had more of a skateboard mentality where he’d just go for it as hard as he could. You see people who charge, but you rarely see people with a spark in their eye for when those sets come through and your limbs have gone weak and no one really wants to go. There are only a few people who’ll turn and go. They’ve got the fire in them, and he’s one of them.”
That fire, as you’d imagine, has led to some pretty bad wipeouts on some absolutely insane waves. He’s almost died more than once, most recently at Teahupo’o, but the spark is still there. The fire is still burning, undiminished by the closest of calls.
That little clique in Ireland with Mickey and Fergal has dissolved slightly these days. Lowe has continued on his big wave surfing path and Mickey and Fergal have gone their own distinct ways.
“Me and Ferg have followed different paths since our time as a close unit,” Mickey said, “but Tom’s still doing it. How he’s got the energy to sustain that is incredible.”
Lowe’s story is ongoing, and through all the misery of the sleeting onshore winds and near-death wipeouts, he’s remained committed to his passion. That commitment is a testament to what it takes to get to the top of one’s game, and Lowe’s going to be there until something stronger than him beats him. And so far, he’s won every time.
“I don’t know how it works, the universe, but I just like to think that the kind of energy you’re putting out is what you’re going to get back. I was just meant to be in amongst some wild seas. It makes me feel alive.”
