Former pro Shaun Brooks dies

Yesterday, former pro surfer Shaun Brooks died at the age of 36. The son of Quiksilver contest director Rod Brooks and brother of former World Tour surfer Troy, Shaun was one of Victoria’s best surfers. He was a Victorian Open champ in his teens and a world junior champion, but was forced into competitive retirement in the late 90s by an un-cooperative body. The specifics around Shaun’s death are still unconfirmed, but the Geelong coroner will disclose details on Friday. Jarrad Howse, a friend of Troy’s, was given the news today. “One of the Vicco boys called me this morning because I was one of the guys Brooko travelled with on tour,” he said. “I know he’d been sick for a long time with bipolar but that’s all I know. Everyone is obviously very shaken.” Beau Emerton, who surfed against Shaun in his prime, remembers: “I surfed with him at the Aussie Titles down at Bells Beach and in a fair few junior events. I have a lot of good memories of him. I remember he and I getting in big hassles together! In a good way, I mean. He had much longer arms than me so he always won. I remember one particular one where he and I were paddling so hard that we ended up going over the falls together, ’cause we were both just stubborn grommets and wanted to win. He had a very similar style to Mark Richards in his day, I reckon, like the seagull. Y’know, he was a pretty lanky bloke as well. But I mean, at that age no one could go near Shaun at Bells on the bowl or Rincon, he was just the man down there amongst all us juniors back then, in that era. Thinking about it today has brought back a lot of memories of the good times.” – Elliot Struck