Not only is Mark Cunningham one of the best bodysurfers of all time, but he also eloquently defines his passion for the sport in a way most others cannot.
When I am struggling to express what bodysurfing means to me, I simply fall back on my list of Cunningham quotes—of which there are many. Here are my personal favorite quotes by and about Mark Cunningham.
Mark Cunningham’s Best Quotes
“As a teenager, I remember very clearly sitting on the beach thinking this is as clean and beautiful and real and meaningful to me as anything in the world, and if it’s giving me pleasure and making me happy why shouldn’t I continue to do this as long as I can?”
“That whole feeling of being so involved; your entire body being encompassed by this moving force. And on a real long ride, you just trim…and climb…and drop…and kind of trim again…and shit, I gotta come back here if I want to keep going…and yes, that works! God, just that sensation of the water flying by, rushing like a fire hose against my chest. Maybe that was the hook. When you’re that low to the water, your sense of speed is just phenomenal. And it’s not just riding the waves, it’s swimming through them, it’s diving under them, opening your eyes underwater as you watch this thing impact right in front of you. And you just knife right through there, between the bottom and where those whitewater fingers are tryin’ to grab you. Just the whole dance out there. You’re like a piece of the ocean. I mean, what is the human body made of? Water. The physical makeup of the bodily fluids and the ocean is very similar. And now you’ve found each other. Hop on now, man, or you’ll miss the train.”
“There’s a thing in karate called the kiai, where your body is focused and centered and ready for anything. Same with bodysurfing. You’re constantly making changes to your stiffness and flex to adjust to the ever-changing wave.”
“I’m out there studying—the intervals, the swell direction, where the current’s pulling the lineup, where it’s pulling me—and I think I’m doing that a little harder than everyone else. It’s just head level for a bodysurfer; I’m down in the chops and troughs of these waves. I have to concentrate harder.”
“On a surfboard it’s always like ‘Hey look at me,’ because you’re standing up and I was so tall everyone always could see me. You’re just so close to the wave and usually hidden by it, enveloped in a very personal, one-on-one experience. There’s a sense of being a part of the ocean as opposed to being on top of it.”
“One of the cool things about bodysurfing is that you’re really anonymous out there. You’re just this coconut, bobbing out in the lineup and there aren’t any expectations placed on you. So don’t worry about stage fright. You’re never onstage.”
“You’ve got a beautiful sunrise or sunset, the fish and turtles swimming underneath you, this incredible coming together of the earth, sea, and sky, and you get to feelin’ real lucky and thankful and happy to be alive.”
“It simply feels good. I get exercise, I get to go outdoors, I see my friends, and I’m completely surrounded and immersed in nature.”
“People around the world love swimming whether it’s in a pool, a lake, a pond, or in the ocean. It’s gone on for thousands of years, playing in the ocean energy.”
“Sometimes I don’t even need waves. I just need to go swimming in the ocean. And I wish that was something more people would get hip to. You don’t need fins, you don’t even need a board, just strip down to your trunks or wetsuit and dive into a shorebreak or go swim in the ocean, look at it from a different vantage point, as opposed to jockeying to the prime spot in the lineup and putting out the vibe like, ‘Next one is mine.’ The ride itself is only a tiny fraction of it all.”
“I’ve got basic bodysurfing tips: know how to swim, have a suit that’s gonna stay on, kick like hell, and come out of the water smiling.”
“I never had a goal to be some kind of ‘name’ bodysurfer. I just found my sanctuary in the ocean, and I found a job that let me be right in the middle of it. But that’s one of the things I really beat myself up with. The whole American dream is a strive-to-attain sort of thing, and I didn’t have the drive, the discipline or the know-how to get a beachfront house or a job in town. Even in the ocean, I was never out to be the top guy. I just surfed because it felt so good—a purely selfish thing. Maybe the ocean gave me that warm embrace I never felt from my parents or family.”
“On a handful of big days over the years, when it’s 12 feet and beyond, I’ve been at second reef [Pipeline] and picked a few off. But you know, even if I hadn’t…God, I had the best seats in the house.”
“Bodysurfing is fun—there’s nothing more to it.”
Quotes about Cunningham
“As dawn breaks, Pipeline is pumping in at 12-15 feet—pretty much the maximum and, realistically, closer to 25 feet if you’re out there. There’s a solitary figure walking toward the ocean, toting only a pair of swim fins, and with nobody around—not even on the beach—he goes bodysurfing. That was Mark Cunningham, day after big day after ridiculous day, throughout the 1980s.” – Bruce Jenkins
“The sun wasn’t up yet, but I could see big swells rolling through Pipeline’s outer reefs, unloading on first reef with loud, glorious explosions. It didn’t seem anyone was out, but then I saw something streaking down the face of a wave in the early light. It wasn’t a surfer in the traditional sense, and it wasn’t a bodyboarder either. Whatever it was trimmed high on the face, came off the bottom, disappeared in the tube, and cut out into the channel. I was quick to dismiss it, thinking the pre-dawn light was playing tricks on me. Later that day I learned that I had been watching the bodysurfer, Mark Cunningham.” – Jeff Johnson
“It is often said that Cunningham is amphibious, which is true but incomplete. Yes, he is amphibious. He is also Ferrari. He is chinchilla fur, knee-length and silk-lined. Cunningham is as powerful and smooth as he is fish-like, in other words. He wanted to bodysurf Pipeline the way Lopez board-surfed it, and he did. No tricks, no wasted motion. Just mindful Zen-infused chinchilla-trimmed Ferrari perfection from takeoff to beach landing.” – Matt Warshaw
“Mark is the missing link between Homo sapiens and cetaceans. If Darwin were alive today, Mark would have blown his mind and sent him back to the drawing board.” – Rory Russell
“Sometimes I look at Cunningham and think he’s the best surfer in the water.” – Rob Machado
“A lot of times it will be super crowded and there won’t be many waves,” says Slater, referring to Pipeline. “The beginning of a swell can be really inconsistent so I might go bodysurfing, and inevitably Mark is gonna be out there.” – Kelly Slater
“Mark has the ability to stay on top of the water like nobody else. Many bodysurfers seem to have trouble staying on top, but Mark seems to effortlessly slide with style. After two years of shooting him, it was very clear why he is the most renowned bodysurfer in the world.” – Keith Malloy
To see more awesome quotes about bodysurfing, click here.