Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September/ October 2019 | Page 66

INSPIRATION
Local award-winning
big wave surfer
Matt Bromley shares his story
IMAGE CREDIT: RYAN CRAIG "CHACHFILES"
R
enowned South African and Cape born surfer, Matt
Bromely began surfing at a young age and pushed
himself to chase and achieve the impossible.
“My absolute passion is chasing the biggest waves in the
world. When a solid swell system approaches, my stomach
churns with a strange mix of fear and excitement to step up to
a new and life threatening challenge,” said Bromley.
Bromley explains that his love for the open ocean began
at a very young age. “I started surfing when I was 6 years old
at Muizenberg. Then when I was 12, we moved to Kommetjie,
and that's when I started surfing every day,” he said.
Sponsored by Billabong for his talent on the surf, Bromley
explains how he transitioned from the smaller waves to a
bigger challenge, hungry for an adventure.
“I loved competing, but around the age of 16, I started to
realize something was wrong. Competitions were all about
high performance surfing in smaller waves, however I loved
the bigger stuff.” From a young age, Bromley’s father would
take him out onto the slightly bigger waves and watch over
him in the ‘safe channel’ but his adventurous spirit ushered him
over to catch a set wave.
Gazing out the window, Bromley would watch a popular big
wave spot called Sunset Reef and the surfers towing into the
monumental sized waves. He knew that he wanted to ride the
big surf.
“My goal was set before me, I knew where I wanted to be, so
I started to work towards the bigger stuff,” he said.
The talented surf says that one cannot just dive into surfing
big waves as it takes practise, determination and stamina. “You
don't just jump from 4 ft waves into 15 metre high mountains.
It takes years of putting yourself in slightly uncomfortable
situations. Little bit by little bit, you push your boundary line
back and slowly edge fear out of the equation,” said Bromley
Bromley provides insight into one of the most terrifying
moments in his surfing career as he surfed the ‘dungeons’
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
and how it pushed him to grow. “I borrowed a longer board
and headed over to Hout Bay, for the big day. Without even
watching the lineup from the boat, I jumped straight into it
and paddled into a few waves. I thought I had this big wave
surfing thing down. And then, the horizon went dark, as a 6-8
metre set approached. I had no idea what was coming, where
it would be breaking, to my left, to my right. I just paddled for
the horizon, feeling my breathing escalate with the adrenaline.
I was met with my worst nightmare; the biggest wall of water
I'd ever seen, about to break on my head. I dived through the
wave, but my board started dragging me backwards. I looked
around to see an even bigger wall of water approaching. Panic
set in, I thought I was going to die. I swam through another 4 of
the biggest waves I'd ever seen. Overwhelmed with fear, I raced
back toward the boats,” he explains.
Although he was filled with fear at this moment, Bromley
paddled wider and was in the perfect spot to catch the massive
wave as he dropped into the ‘wave of his life and rode it all the
way to the channel’. He came out of the wave with the crowd
cheering for him and he knew he had found his passion.
As a pivotal moment in Bromley’s life, he decided to change
direction and left the competition scene and began to chase
swells around the world. “That day at Dungeons also initiated
my new mindset on preparedness-training for the biggest
moments of your life. I knew that I needed to be ready,
physically and more importantly, mentally, to have confidence
in waves far beyond my comfort zone,” he said.
Ten years later, Bromley is riding some of the biggest waves in
the world. He shares some words of wisdom from his journey.
“Fear cripples performance, doubt is the precursor to fear and
being unprepared is where it all begins. You never know when
your next big wave is around the corner, so you'd better be
ready for it,” said Bromley.