OCEAN CITY’S SURFING PIONEERS STARTED RIDING WAVES IN THE EARLY 1900S AND THE SPORT BOOMED IN THE 1960S. ITS COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO GROW AND GIVE BACK
Written by Kristen Hampshire | Photography by Tony Pratt
Brian Stoehr has traveled the world as a two-time U.S. National Pro Tour Bodyboard Champion, and the waveriding professional prefers Ocean City to anywhere else. “I developed a love and appreciation for the place where I grew up,” said Stoehr, an instructor at The Wave Riding School, which is made of a team of the region’s top watermen, who are passing on their love of the sport.
“The surf community here has always been tight-knit, and a lot of people might not associate Ocean City with bodyboarding,” he said. Yet, Stoehr and Jay Reale — a pioneer of Drop Knee and Ocean City native — are two pros who put the coastal town on the worldwide map.
Ocean City wave riding dates back to the early 1960s, and its roster of surfing legends is prolific. Essentially, it started when Skill and Al Johnson, along with their late brother Carl, were some of the first to bring the sport to town. They formed the original Ocean City Surf Club shortly after and in 1969 became the first directors of the Eastern Surfing Association’s (ESA) Delmarva District. These and more than 120 others make up The Legends inducted into the Ocean City Surfing Hall of Fame.
Not only are The Legends and Ocean City’s surfing community members making history by riding waves, they’re giving back. “We induct a few new surfers each year who are over the age of 50, avid surfers who give back to the community in some capacity,” said Ocean City Surf Club president Tommy Vach. “They are a rich part of our history here.”
Vach reflects back on the early days: He was born and raised in Ocean City and started taking to the waves at age 5. “I grew a passion for it all through my childhood; after college, I moved to Southern California and surfed up and down the coast and into Mexico, staying out there for 25 years,” he said.
Vach started surfing in 1965 and grew up with the sport. “Then, there were just a handful of surfers in Ocean City, and it was more like local crews who would surf up and down the coastline and to Delaware and Northern Virginia,” he said. “But it has changed so much over the years, and now there are thousands of surfers up and down the Eastern Seaboard.”
ESA executive director Michelle Sommers said that the older generation of Ocean City surfers grew up together, and within the last five years, the sport has surged in popularity. “That includes Ocean City, especially since COVID,” she added.
Today, the ESA sponsors more than 125 contests along the east coast, and the Delmarva District hosts four to six contents per year that are qualifiers for regionals. “Every professional surfer on the East Coast starts out surfing in contests with ESA,” Sommers said.
LEGENDARY STATUS
Longtime local surfing enthusiasts Brad Hoffman, opposite page, left, and Tommy Vach thoroughly enjoy passing on their love of the sport to a younger generation.
And while Ocean City is home to a roster of pros, “it’s just a great sport for people of all ages to get into,” said Sommers. And the proximity to urban centers, like Wilmington, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC, makes Ocean City appealing to day-trippers who want to experience surfing.
Men, women, children, beachgoers of all ages take to the water; it’s multigenerational. “It’s really a special place,” Sommers said of the surfing community. “Everyone knows everyone; we watch out for each other’s kids. And we are surrounded by a great coastline for waves.”
Vach said, “We have grown a culture, and the surfing lifestyle continues to be an asset to everyone in the community.”
WAVES OF PHILANTHROPY
The Ocean City Surf Club gives back through scholarships, environmental advocacy, educational programs and youth support.
Ocean City Surf Club
Tommy Vach was born and raised in Ocean City and started surfing at age 5. He has surfed waves across the world, but he returned to his hometown and became president of the Ocean City Surf Club, a volunteer organization that provides Delmarva with charity and service to promote strong values through scholarships, environmental advocacy, educational programs and youth support.
“We give back not just to the surfing community but to the community as a whole,” Vach said, sharing his love of wave riding and the ocean. “We are blessed to live on one of the greatest recreational playgrounds anyone could ever ask for. Our big backyard is a beach and ocean, and we are amazed when we teach some students in schools and we ask, ‘Who hasn’t been on the beach?’ and a few hands go up and they live right here. We make an effort to get them out on the beach and into the water to learn the sport and enjoy this beautiful ocean we inherited.”
Surf Into Integrity
This after-school program at Stephen Decatur Middle School is based off of the book The Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life, by world-champion surfer Shaun Tomson. “On Wednesdays in the classroom we teach life lessons, and we take them out on the beach Sundays and circle up on the beach, talk about what they read and teach them how to surf and to respect the ocean and beach,” Vach said. “It’s all about giving respect, getting respect and making choices.”
Adopt Your Beach. Beyond litter, this program focuses on the need for clean oceans, shorelines and waterways by engaging residents who adopt a beach in the community. “Mine is 12th Street, and we all agree to clean our beaches four times per year,” Vach explained, adding how the program fosters pride in ownership.
Youth Patrol. Volunteers ages 7 to 18 help with community service projects, including beach cleanups, games and activities, contests like Ocean Games and SUP Paddle Races and more.
Water Watch. “We work closely with the Junior Beach Patrol and instill into these children how the patrol protects beaches from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., but before and after, it’s the surfers out there who are actually the lifeguards helping people in distress because we are in the water already,” Vach said. During the past several years, the Ocean City Surf Club has built relationships with lifeguards, Beach Patrol and the surf community. “We support them with donations to buy rescue boards and to print kids’ water-safety activity books.” CS