When Felipe Pomar paddles out, age disappears.
At 82 years old, the 1965 World Surfing Champion is still taking on powerful waves — not symbolic ones, but real, moving walls of water that many surfers half his age would watch from the channel. His recent trip to Australia, where he appeared on national television and a podcast interview, was more than a nostalgic look back at a legendary career. It was a statement: longevity in surfing is not an accident. It is a discipline.
From Peru to the World Title
Felipe grew up in Peru at a time when surfing barely existed there. There was only one surf club in the entire country. A competitive swimmer in his youth, he never followed the typical progression of learning in small, forgiving surf. He went straight into big waves.
Fear was not something to avoid — it was something to harness.
That mindset carried him to the 1965 World Surfing Championship, where he became Peru’s first world champion and one of the pioneers of international big-wave surfing. But in many ways, that achievement at 23 is no longer the most remarkable part of his story.
What defines Felipe Pomar today is not what he did — it’s what he still does.
Training for Longevity
Felipe does not “stay active for his age.” He trains with intention.
He follows intermittent fasting.
He hydrates more than most people.
He maintains regular surf sessions.
He treats longevity like a performance goal.
His philosophy is direct and uncompromising:
You don’t hope for longevity. You train for it.
This approach forms the foundation of his program Surf Till 100, where he shares principles of mindset, discipline, and physical preparation designed to keep people active for life — not just in surfing, but in any movement practice.
His goal is clear and characteristically bold: to still be surfing at 100.
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The Tsunami Session
During the interview, Felipe revisited one of the most extraordinary stories in surfing history. After a massive earthquake struck Peru, he paddled out into waves generated by the resulting tsunami.
It was not an act of recklessness, but of instinct — a lifetime of reading the ocean, trusting his body, and committing fully to the moment. The story captures something essential about his relationship with the sea: it is not about conquering waves, but about understanding them deeply enough to move with them, even in extreme circumstances.
Discipline Over Time
On Australian television, Felipe spoke less about trophies and more about habits: training, recovery, hydration, mindset. The fundamentals. The same elements that allow an athlete to perform at 25 are, in his view, the ones that allow a human to remain capable at 82.
His message resonated far beyond surfing:
Age is not the limit. Commitment is.
In a sport — and a culture — that often celebrates youth, Felipe Pomar represents a different model of performance. One where experience compounds, where discipline becomes freedom, and where the ocean remains a lifelong partner rather than a phase of life.
Still Paddling Out
What makes Felipe’s story powerful is not nostalgia. It is continuity.
He is not remembering what it felt like to surf big waves.
He is still doing it.
Every paddle-out is a quiet argument against the idea that performance has an expiration date. Every session is proof that longevity is built, not granted.
And somewhere in the back of his mind is a simple target that sounds impossible until you watch him surf:
Our own encounter
We had the privilege to spend some time with Felipe many years ago on a remote Indonesian Island and heard his stories first hand. The man is a true legend and seeing him keep going like this is a true inspiration.
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