Junior Trevor Rowedder has been surfing almost since he could walk, has professional surfers on speed dial and has traveled more in the last year than many Tam students have in their lives. “My first time on a surfboard was when I was three years old. But I didn’t really get into it until I was about eight or nine,” Rowedder said. “I like surfing because it is physically fun, but it’s also a great mental release.”
Rowedder is a professional amateur, meaning he participates in competitions and receives sponsorships, but does not receive a salary. “I began getting sponsorships at the age of 13. My current sponsors are Sunshine Freestyle Surfshop, SanFranpsycho and Kaenon Sunglasses. They give me anything from discounts on surfboards, to sweatshirts, to wetsuits,” Rowedder said.
“I met Trevor while surfing,” said SanFranpsycho owner Andy Olive. “We always try and sponsor kids who carry a good attitude. Trevor is smooth both in the water and on land. He surfs very fluidly and can strike up a conversation with the ladies in a heartbeat. Both styles will only improve as the years progress. Good kid all around with a bright future.”
While Rowedder is still trying to place on the Pro-Am (Professional-Amateur competition) podium, his skills are progressing every day. “I surf anywhere from four to seven days a week,” he said. “In the winter and fall I will typically surf at Ocean Beach after school. It is one of the heaviest, most perfect beach breaks in the world, and has become a real proving ground for big wave surfing.” During the spring and summer seasons, Rowedder prefers to surf Cronkite Beach in the Marin Headlands as well as down the coast towards Santa Cruz.
In the last five years, Rowedder has gone on a lifetime’s worth of dream surfing expeditions. He’s spent wintertimes on the north shore of Oahu, has traveled up and down the coast of California and has spent the last four summers in Indonesia exploring Bali and Java. While in Java, Rowedder spent two weeks in the Javanese jungle. He spent the majority of his time surfing a “perfect” wave dubbed “G-land” with Mick Campbell (a former world tour surfer and now professional free surfer). Campbell and Rowedder instantly became great friends. “The cool part about surfing is that you get to meet a lot of cool people…the surfing community is a tight one and when you travel in search of waves you’re bound to run into fellow surfers,” said Rowedder.
Two years ago, during a surfing trip to Uluwatu, Bali, Rowedder had one “special session with pros Chris Ward and Owen Wright. He became good friends Chris Ward and visits him often. This month, Brendon Booth and Regard Smit, both up-and-coming pros from South Africa are staying with Rowedder.
“That’s the way it is with people you meet when you travel. You build bonds and friendships through experiencing amazing adventures together. It seems it’s always an open door policy. I’m welcome in their homes, and they’re always welcome in mine. It’s a cool feeling knowing you have friends all over the world, and can go literally to the corners of the earth and have a bed to sleep in and a good mate to laugh with.”
Rowedder is rarely off his surfboard. When he is, he prefers bowling, concert-going, and taking photos. He has not let the pressure of his early success get to his head, and continues to work hard week in and week out. Lucky for Rowedder, “…it doesn’t feel like work at all.”
