Jack sought to break this stereotype by befriending people from all walks of life, whether they were beach bums who lived in their cars, or wealthy engineers and entrepreneurs. They were thought of as dirty bums who couldn’t hold a job and definitely weren’t ambitious businesspeople. When Jack and his family first moved to Santa Cruz, surfers didn’t have the greatest reputation. Many of them were previously accomplished skiers and snowboarders and the ocean provides a relatively gentle re-entry into action sports and a potentially very healing, meditative experience which Jack completely understood and honored. These athletes have all had spinal cord injuries and are choosing to heal themselves by regaining strength and pursuing water sports. Jack would’ve been stoked and honored to know that four adaptive athletes from the High Fives Foundation participated in the paddle out. I think in the next 30 years we’ll see the potential of that power become fully realized.” It’s proven therapeutic for people with physical and mental disabilities, for veterans returning from war, for everyone. In an interview Jack discussed the healing powers of the ocean “I’ve felt this in my own life, but there are also researchers interested in studying the way ocean therapy affects the brain and its pathways. The ocean is not only an incredible way to connect interpersonally but it also carries an innate capacity for us to connect and heal ourselves. We are related through the soul and momentum of the water.” A family that is connected through the energy of the ocean. I know I will always have a blood family on land but when it comes to sharing a special moment or emotion we have our water family. “The relationship between family isn’t just blood but what connects you to one another. As members of the O’Neill family and crew shared stories, a common theme kept coming up – that everyone is connected and the ocean creates this beautiful place for us to connect and share a common passion.Īlexa Thornton, longtime surfer and ocean enthusiast, summed up the idea of this bond quite nicely after participating in the paddle out. As the O’Neill motto goes, “It’s always summer on the inside.”Īs surfers can attest, the ocean creates an immensely powerful connection with nature, to your own self and the people with whom you share the experience.
The technology has gotten so advanced now people are basically surfing everywhere, even Alaska and Antarctica, which must have made Jack happy as he was a nature enthusiast. His stomping grounds were Central and Northern California which can get quite chilly in the winter and pretty much require wetsuits all year round. Pros and amateurs alike credit Jack with allowing them to get into the sport, especially in colder climates. Sign announcing the paddle out (O’Neill). Through the decades, his business continued to expand, moving to larger spaces in Santa Cruz. He opened his first “surf shop,” a term he coined himself, in 1952 out of a garage. I remember one guy got a jumper from the Goodwill and sprayed it with Thompson’s water seal and he sat out there in an oil slick.”Īs the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and for Jack it was the drive to get in the ocean, regardless of the water temperature, and be able to stay out long enough to get in a solid session that drove him to invent his cozy neoprene suits.
In a 1999 interview Jack said, “Guys were using sweaters from the Goodwill. He used synthetic rubber technologies that were created at UC Berkeley for deep sea diving to create his neoprene suits that are still used today. Jack helped invent the wetsuit when no other companies were even entertaining the idea (except maybe Body Glove). Of course the goal of the event was not to set records, but to honor a true pioneer in the surf industry. Not only was this paddle out massive, paddle outs were held concurrently in Belgium, Holland, Australia, the U.K., France, Canada and South Africa in honor of this beloved surf icon. Previously the record was held by a June 2017 paddle out in Huntington Beach which was merely a sixth of the size. The Jack O’Neill memorial paddle out broke the world record for largest paddle out of any kind. Whether they knew him personally, through his influence in the surf world, or just through the brand, people flocked to his home break for a celebratory paddle out to commemorate a life well lived. Everyone was there to honor Jack O’Neill, founder of O’Neill wetsuits, who died on June 2nd at age 94. On July 9th over 3,000 people took to the water at Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz and 5,000 to 6,000 onlookers crowded the cliffs, stairs, trees and wherever else they could find a view of the spectacle. Over 3,000 surfers paddled out to remember Jack O’Neill (Joe White).
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