Aussie surfing great Shane Herring dies after fall at Tweed Heads home

Surfing legend Kelly Slater’s original arch rival has died aged just 53 after a freak incident at his Tweed Heads home.

Surfer Shane Herring in action in 1994.

Surfing legend Kelly Slater’s original arch rival, Aussie great Shane Herring, has died at his Tweed Heads home aged just 53.

Slater and Herring squared off in the final of their debut world championship tour event, the Coca-Cola Classic at North Narrabeen in 1992, with Herring triumphing.

Herring used some of the $33,000 prizemoney to help pay for his mum’s brain cancer surgery but spent much of the rest on partying, including famously buying 55 jugs of beer with sambuca shots in 44 of them to celebrate the victory with his mates.

Surfer Kelly Slater’s post about the passing of Shane Herring. Picture Instagram

While teetotaller Slater went on that year to win the first of his 11 world titles, for Herring, it was the start of a gradual slide which saw him fall off the tour in 1994 and retire from pro surfing aged just 23.

Originally from Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches, Herring was regarded as one of surfing’s “shooting stars” – a loveable larrikin who was blessed with incredible talent but cursed by addiction and personal struggles which saw him become a penniless recluse.

While Kelly Slater would go on to win 11 world titles his great rival fell out of the sport.

It was a dramatic decline for the one-time surfing prodigy who, at the peak of his all-too-brief powers, enjoyed six-figure sponsorships and worldwide fame riding “banana boards” made by renowned Aussie surfboard shaper Greg Webber.

Herring died after a late night fall down a set of stairs at his West Tweed unit this week.

Slater was among many in the surfing world to pay tribute.

“I’m so sad to get this news tonight,” the American great posted on Instagram.

“(Herring) was a dear friend some decades ago. We lost touch some years but never lost our connection.

“Shane’s surfing and friendship early years on tour had a huge impact on me and my surfing. I deeply admired his raw talent and childlike spirit, his respect for the roots of surfing and desire to make our elders proud.”

Surfing World Magazine described Herring as a “surfing talent like few we’d ever seen in Australian surfing”.

“Herro burned brief but bright in the early 90s before flaming out,” the magazine posted on social media.

“He lived quietly on the North Coast in the decades after, and while he still had his issues with the drink, he could be occasionally coaxed back into the water and he kept shaping boards to the end.”

Originally published as Aussie surfing great Shane Herring dies after fall at Tweed Heads home