Legends We Lost: Surfing Icons Who Kicked Out in 2025

Lives lived to the full, some cut way too short, but all these individuals made a huge impact on the art, culture and performance of surfing. We look at the life and legacy of those we lost in the last year.

Jack McCoy

“He’d just tractor-beam you. He’d just pull you in. He was a force of nature,” said Matt Warshaw on the loss of Jack McCoy, arguably surfing’s greatest filmmaker. SURFER summed him up as “surfing’s premier documentarian… who changed surfing for the better.” Jack was born in Kailua, Hawaii, and grew up alongside Gerry Lopez, Dennis Pang, and the revolutionary late-60s generation of North Shore standouts, but moved to Australia in the 1970s. He made 25 masterpieces of the surf film, including cult classics Storm Riders, The Green Iguana, The Occumentary, Sabotaj, Blue Horizon, The Billabong Classic series, Free as a Dog and A Deeper Shade of Blue. “Caring, compassion, his humanity far exceed his career accomplishments - which says a lot,” wrote editor Jake Howard. “Jack had a heart of gold and will be profoundly missed.” He died of cancer age 75. 

Timo Jarvinen

Journo and WSL broadcaster Paul Evans described his mate and the legendary Finnish surf photographer Timo Jarvinen as “charming, warm, funny, affable, and equal parts caustic, hostile, nihilistic.” Timo carved a career in skiing and snowboarding before a move to France ignited his water photography passion. Known especially for his work with the fisheye lens, he worked with the world’s best surfers, including a long and fruitful relationship with Kelly Slater, and was published by all the world’s best magazines. In the later stages of his career, Timo pivoted back to the snow, working with ski icon Candide Theroux, before he died of cancer, aged 60, this year. 

Clyde Aikau

“Clyde Aikau lived a life that deserves to be celebrated for its own merits, beyond the tireless stewardship of his older brother’s enduring fame,” wrote Sam George on the death of Clyde Aikau, the 1986 Eddie Aikau winner and one of Hawaii’s most revered elders. 

Born in 1949, Clyde and his younger brother, the late, great Eddie Aikau, moved from Maui to the North Shore and quickly came to exemplify modern Hawaiian watermen. After the death of his brother Eddie in 1978, Clyde stayed on as a lifeguard and was the custodian of the Big Wave Invitational Event, which he won in 1986. In 2016, in one of the biggest swells in the history of the event, Clyde paddled out and rode some bombs at the age of 66. 

“Uncle Clyde kept it real, kept it Hawaiian and had an aloha spirit that would tower higher and feel stronger than any wave on the planet,” wrote Mason Ho. “When he’d look at you, speak to you, or ride with you, it really felt magical.” 

Greg Browning

“We’ve all got friends who are ‘the nicest guy ever’ but Greg was that guy,” said Kelly Slater on the death of surfer, coach, and filmmaker Greg Browning, who died aged 52 due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A talented and stylish surfer and member of the Momentum Generation, he transitioned to filmmaking, where his chops as a filmer, talent wrangler and editor shone brightly. Partnering up with Taylor Steele, they created the wildly successful “Drive Thru” series. “But it was in his final chapter—facing ALS—that he revealed a deeper power,” said Steele. “Not just in how he endured, but in how he showed up for others, even as his body faded. He never made it about him. He stayed kind, curious, and deeply intentional—offering laughter, perspective, and still lifting people around him when he had every reason to fold inward.” “Greg has always been sunshine in human form. Now, when the sun shines, I’ll know it’s him. He’s the best human I’ve ever met. He came into my life when I needed him most,” said Carissa Moore, who Brown coached to a World Title.  

Hugues Oyarzabal 

The French surfer, Basque Country native, and pioneer with the POV camera in the heavy, slabbing tubes, Hugues Oyarzabal, committed suicide in May. The 39-year-old was described by the French Surfing Federation as “one of the most talented French surfers, of all the generations combined.” Oyarzabal had made a second home in Bali and was known as one of the most tubed surfers in Indo, but had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder. His parents wrote, “His physical and psychological suffering took its toll. He has chosen to leave us, to rediscover the peace and serenity he has been unable to find over the last few years.”

Shane Herring

“He best blended the old school power and pure lines with the new school mentality and speed in the ’90s,” wrote Kelly Slater, on Shane Herring after he had died aged 52 after an accident at home. “I always found Shane to be a kindhearted guy and an extremely talented surfer, but he had his demons that limited his time of greatness.” Herring famously beat Kelly in the final of the 1992 Coke Classic on a Greg Webber-designed banana board, and ended up as the World No. 2, but was off the tour just two years later. After his short-lived, yet explosive, surf career, Herring battled alcohol and drug addiction. Maybe he was always destined not to be in the spotlight for long, although his impact was never forgotten.

Mike Hynson

A prominent figure in surfing history, Hynson is perhaps still best known as one of two main surfers who starred in Bruce Brown's iconic 1966 documentary film The Endless Summer. “But that hardly defined the man,” wrote Jake Howard, of the 82-year-old who died in January. “A local hero, a hot-dog performer, a shaping genius, a cosmic adventurer, Hynson altered the sport and culture of surfing in an untold number of ways over his colorful time on this spinning blue orb.” Hynson remained a vital and vibrant thread in the rich tapestry that is the surf world all the way up until the end, and his legacy is a blend of pop-star hero and countercultural rebellion. From his early days with the Windansea Surf Club to his starring role in “The Endless Summer,” his involvement with the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and commitment to surfboard design, nobody ever did it like Hynson.