( intro music )
Greg Long: I do feel fear,
 but that fear is actually
 one of the underlying
 motivators of why...
 I ride big waves.
 How are we ever meant to
 truly grow in our lives,
 if we don't occasionally
 step out of that comfort zone?
 The feelings of fear...
 I open my arms
 and I welcome them.
( applause )
Greg Long:
Thank you guys, very much.
I'm Greg Long.
I'm a professional
big wave surfer.
I have dedicated my life
to following the greatest
ocean storms around the globe,
in pursuit of riding
the biggest waves in the world.
 As you continue to ride
 larger and larger waves,
 the stakes at play
 in order to do so,
 continue to escalate.
 Eventually,
 you get to a point,
 where you've begun walking
 a fine line.
It's a line between
riding that next greatest,
biggest wave of your life,
or possibly
dropping down the face
of the one that could end it.
For over a decade...
I walked that line.
Until one day,
I stumbled
over the other side.
Thankfully,
I'm still here today
to share with you guys,
my big wave journey.
One that has literally
taken me to the edge and back.
( music )
 With a playing field
 that is constantly in motion
 and always changing...
 It is very easy
 to make mistakes.
( music continues )
 And the consequences...
 they are very real.
 But when you reach deep
 within yourself,
 bringing your mind and body
 into momentary sync,
 with the rhythm and
 power of the swells,
 and for brief moment,
 seemingly defying nature,
 and successfully riding
 one of those waves.
 For me,...
 there's no other feeling
 in the world like it.
( music )
( applause )
Greg Long: Thank you.
So, I grew up
in the small beach town of
San Clemente,
in Southern California.
 It is a popular
 surfing destination
 known around the world,
 but not for its big waves.
 It's known for its
 small perfect
 cobblestone point breaks
 that allow your average surfer
 to go out there
 and just really have a fun
 and joyous time.
 When I was 14 years old,
 I started seeing these
 photographs in the magazines.
Photographs of the newly exposed
 big wave break,
 by the name of Todos Santos.
 And Todos Santos
 is on an island
 off the coast of
 Northern Baja.
 And, it was renowned
 immediately as
 one of the best
 big wave breaks in the world.
 And at 15 years old,
 I got to go down
 and surf this wave
 Todos Santos.
At the same time
I was competing competitively
in the amateur series,
in the Progressive Surfing,
doing the turns
in the small waves.
That's what I grew up
surfing.
And I had a very decent
amateur career, and actually
won... was the National
Amateur Championship title.
And immediately I had
all the surf industry taking
notice saying,
'Okay, he's the next kid
we need to sponsor'.
Well, I was 18 years old,
and I used that opportunity
to sign my first
professional contract,
but in doing so,
I knew that's not
where my heart was.
I could've cared less
about these contests.
I wanted to ride
these big waves.
So, in signing up
professional contract,
I was allowed a travel budget
that I could use
to go to the contest,
or as I figured,
at my own disposal.
( laughter )
So I turned my back
on competitive surfing
and I set off on
this life of adventure.
It became
an obsession of mine...
beyond the passion, obsession.
I'd pack up my bags,
and I would go,
and I would live down
in Cape Town, South Africa,
the bottom of Africa.
And during
the most torrential storms
of the Roaring Forties,
all in hopes of waiting
for a wave by the name of
Dungeons to awaken.
 It's called
 the Cape of Storms
 for a good reason.
 And it seemed like
 every single week,
 we were constantly battered
 with another storm.
 And an opportunity
 to surf these big waves.
You have all of these
incredible harsh elements
against you and then
sometimes the most daunting
of them all...
 was the real locals.
( laughter )
I wouldn't surf
with these locals.
( laughter )
 But all those elements,
 they hardened my Southern
 California ass up real quick!
( laughter )
 And it gave me
 this confidence,
 that I could then take to
 any other break
 around the world...
 which is what I did.
 Sometimes, it was Mexico,
 it was one of my favorite
 destinations,
 wave called
 Puerto Escondido.
 West Australia
 all of South America,
 Chile and Peru
 South Pacific, Tahiti, Fiji.
Now people often ask me,
'Greg,
do you ever get scared?'
I do feel fear,
but that fear is actually
one of the underlying
motivators of
why I ride big waves,
why I choose to put myself
out there.
How are we ever meant
to truly grow in our lives,
if we don't occasionally
step out of that comfort zone?
 And that's what big
 wave surfing has taught me,
 and one of the greatest
 allures of it,
 is embracing that fear
 in a positive light.
 Simply acknowledging it
 as a space
 where I can grow in my life.
Now, over the course
of my surfing career
in my later years,
there was one wave
that captivated me
beyond comprehension.
 And it is called
 the Cortes Bank,
 an underwater seamount
 that sits
 100 miles off the coast of
 Southern California.
 It's mainly recognized
 as a maritime hazard.
 But to big wave surfers...
 it's our Mount Everest.
 Cortes Bank has
 the ability to produce
 the largest rideable waves of
 anywhere in the world.
 But it also has
 challenges and dangers
 that no other
 big wave break has.
Your horizon line,
it extends 360 degrees
around you.
There's no landmass in sight.
No reference point,
as to where you're going to
actually can sit and lineup.
There's no continental shelf.
So these open ocean swells
are travelling
at speed upwards of
50 miles an hour.
That's twice as fast
as your typical big wave.
The currents out there
are moving at the pace
of an easy flowing river,
so it is impossible to stay
whatever it is
that you want to
without paddling incessantly.
 And then the lineup,
 it spans over the course
 of about
 three football fields.
 There's no rhyme or reason
 as to how and where these
 waves actually break out,
 there on the seamount.
 Then, in late December 2010,
 another massive
 low-pressure system forms off
 the coast of California.
I see that
there's an opportunity
to go out to the Cortes Bank.
And I had one goal.
All I wanted to do
was paddle into
the biggest wave of my life.
I'm out here in the lineup.
And here it is before me.
I turn around,
I put my head down
and I paddle my heart out.
 I go,
 I go,
 I go... right over
 the front of my board
 and on to my face.
 I bet that story didn't end
 the way you guys thought
 it was going to.
( laughter )
They usually never do.
 Well,
 I was the happiest man alive.
( laughter )
 Why you may ask.
Well, one, I was okay.
Two...
that was the opportunity
that I'd been waiting for.
I would've rather have gone
on that wave,
and eaten ****,
wiped out, than not.
And sat there and wondered
for the rest of my life,
'Could I have made it?'
I paddled back out
and I wanted to do it again,
not wipe out.
( laughter )
I wanted to make
one of these waves.
So, after about an hour,
back in the lineup,
and I see a great set
approaching.
Lineup the wave that I like,
just like I had done
so many times before,
I put my head down and I go.
 Further on the shoulder
 I was joined
 by fellow suffer,
 Garrett McNamara
 and together we take
 the plunge down the face
 of this wave.
 We get to the bottom and
 we both immediately realize
 that we've misjudged
 the speed,
 and our distance
 to the shoulder.
 And we are immediately
 overtaken
 by this mountain of
 white water.
Now, I've ridden
bigger waves in my life.
I'd wiped out in much more
dramatic fashion
in my life before.
But there was
something about this wave.
The way that it hit me...
with the power and the force.
It's like nothing
I'd ever experienced.
It was like
a five-story building
of white water
being dumped on my back.
 I was immediately pushed...
 into the abyss.
 And I'd been down so long
 running the risk
 of what's called
 'the two-wave hold-down',
 where you don't actually
 make it to the surface
 before the second wave
 passes over you.
But I still have the time
to probably swim
to the surface
and get that breath
before it hits.
And as I am about ready
to penetrate
this aerated water
and get that breath...
that second wave,
towering wave,
four-stories tall,
lip comes pitching down
and it lands
right on top of me.
My body instantly felt like
it was torn in two pieces and
shaken in this violent state
of semi-paralysis.
But even worse...
all of the wind
that was in my lungs...
was immediately expelled out,
knocked straight out of me.
But as that wave,
that lip hit me,
it pushed me right back down
to this place...
30 feet below the surface.
My body was begging me
to breathe,
to re-inflate my lungs.
But I knew that I couldn't.
And if I didn't,
I would most certainly
drown in that very instant.
So, my thoughts go
a little something like this,
'Well, you've really
done it now, Greg.
But don't worry, just relax.
You are going to make it
to the surface.
You are going to be okay.'
At the same time,
the turbulence
from that second wave that had
hit me began to subside.
As I started to think about
swimming for the surface,
I heard and I felt
the third wave
pass over the top of me.
And I immediately go back into
those cartwheels and spins,
caught in the turbulence
of it,
and realize that, you know,
these full body convulsions
began to slowly settle down.
Hands began to tingle.
Just feel the overall life in me
start to slip away.
Flashes of light
in the corner of my mind,
but I'm still going.
I let go of the tail section
of that board,
the last energy
that I have in me.
I let go and I take one more
double-arm breaststroke.
Reaching for the top
I know it's coming...
and then blackness.
Blackness and silence.
I come to the surface...
face down.
 They pulled my lifeless body
on to the back of
the rescue sled,
 and I was completely
 unresponsive.
 As fast as they could
 they rushed me back
 to our support boat,
 which you see
 in the distance here.
 And they began readying
 themselves to give me CPR,
 but first they are
 checking my vitals
 to see if there's
 any signs of life.
And, as they're getting ready
to start CPR
and hopefully
to bring me back,
I let out the most feeble gasp
for air.
All the while,
there is just water and foam
and blood coming out of
my mouth,
but I'm still trying
to breath,
completely unconscious.
 It was about three minutes
 they sat there waiting,
 those gasps got larger
 and larger and then finally,
 the lights came back on.
 The coastguard was called,
 but we are a 100 miles
 into the ocean.
 It's going to take them
 some time
 before they can get there.
 Four hours later,
 the coastguard arrived.
 I was packaged up,
 friends walked me out
 to the bow of the boat
 and in the cover of darkness
 and massive seas,
 I was lifted in a basket
 up to the coastguard chopper.
I was life-flighted
to San Diego,
immediately
admitted to the hospital,
where I underwent
a whole series of tests,
CAT scans, x-rays,
checking for the brain trauma,
internal damage,
internal bleeding.
And then monitored
for secondary drowning,
making sure that my lungs
didn't backfill with fluid
as I slept through the night.
The next morning
the doctor comes in,
signs-off on the paperwork
and says,
'You are good to home, Greg.'
( laughter )
I had promised myself I was
done with big wave surfing.
That I had pushed it
to the edge,
I was given a second chance
that I've got no reason
to go back there.
I've explored
my greatest potential,
what I'm capable of.
I know it now.
I don't care about it
any more.
Three weeks later...
another big swell forms
in the North Pacific.
( laughter )
Yeah, you guys can see
where this is going.
( laughter )
And I get a call
that they are going to have
the Mavericks
Big Wave Contest.
Mavericks is one of the
premier big waves in the world
and this contest is one of the
most important
in the big wave surfing world.
It's big wave surfing
community.
So I pack up my car
and make the eight-hour
drive north to Half Moon Bay.
 And I paddle out and
 I surf the contest.
 But things were different.
I would immediately
disappear back
into that deep, dark,
lonely place
beneath the ocean
at Cortes Bank.
While my mind would flashback
to the physical agony
that I was experiencing
when I was lying
on the deck of the boat,
desperate to breath.
But for the next six months,
I continued to push myself
and surf every single
big wave,
travelling to
all these destinations
just as I had done
so many times before.
And eventually,
I became so exhausted
physically, mentally,
emotionally.
I just had to stop.
I realized in that moment...
I was living my life in fear.
All I had ever known
was a life in a world
of surfing big waves.
It frightened me to
think of things any different.
But it was also in that moment
that I realized I had
all the answers to this riddle
that I was trying to solve
in my mind.
That the ocean is this amazing
metaphor for life,
when you think about it.
You are on this constantly
moving playing field.
You know, the winds, tides,
currents are always changing.
Tides go in, goes out,
there's an ebb
and a flow to everything.
And I was always so good
at adapting
to those changes...
 in the ocean.
 Those new feelings of fear
 that I had never experienced
 before.
 I opened my arms
 and I welcomed them
 just as I had always done.
 And simply acknowledged them
 as places in my life
 that I was meant to
 learn and grow from.
I started to regain
that confidence
and I started moving forward
in my life.
I was having more fun
than ever.
And then the world gave me
the opportunity,
for once and for all
go back out
and face those deepest,
darkest fears...
once and for all.
( music )
You know, I didn't get
much sleep last night.
I was just tossing and turning
and living everything that
I went through the last time
I was out here.
The last time,
last thing I remember
I was literally on the bow
on the boat, like this,
you know, looking up at
the coastguard helicopter,
you know,
being lifted out of here
in a freaking basket.
( music )
Yes. Alright! Thank you, guys.
Love you all for being here.
I appreciate it.
Let's go surf.
( music )
Thank you guys for being here.
Love, respect and gratitude.
( applause )
( outro music )
