Merewether’s Paul Parkes is on the crest of a wave after claiming the Over 50’s division at the Australian Shortboard Surfing Titles in Wollongong.
Staged at McCauley’s Beach, the nationals featured the top surfers from across the country, competing across three days of solid swell.
The win qualified him to represent Australia at the ISA World Masters Championships in El Salvador next year, slated for the popular destination Surf City.
For Parkes, the triumph was as unexpected as it was meaningful.
“I wasn’t planning on going to the world titles,” he said.
“But, after the win, so many people started reaching out.
“People I hadn’t heard from in years were calling to say congrats.
“That support really shifted things for me.”
Now 50, Parkes first stood on a board riding wind chop on Lake Macquarie after finding a surfboard in a neighbour’s bin as a kid.
By age 12, he’d set his sights on going pro.
“I just knew I wanted to be a professional surfer,” he said.
“That was the dream.
“I stuck with it… and it’s shaped everything in my life.”
Parkes surfed professionally from 18 to 32, travelling the globe for up to 20 events annually.
After retiring from competition, he turned his attention to shaping boards, opening 3P Surfboards in Redhead nearly two decades ago, a business that still keeps him in the water.
And, last week’s competition delivered some of the best waves Parkes says he’s seen in ages.
“You don’t often get great surf in comps, so to get that and come away with a win was pretty special,” he said.
While others prepped with warm-ups and routines, Parkes took a simpler approach.
“I was lying back on a rock with my board over my face,” he laughed.
“I call it the art of preparing without preparing.”
The World Masters Championships will take place between March and June 2026 in Surf City, El Salvador.
To help Parkes make it overseas, his daughters have launched a GoFundMe page.
Donations can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-parkes-represent-aus-in-isa-world-surfing-champs
- University of Newcastle journalism student Annabelle Mahoney
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