Inside the wild life of surfing cult hero Shane Herring who died aged 53 after long battle with addiction

‘I don’t try to be handsome, I don’t try to be cool I just try to be nice, you know,’ Shane Herring once told KorduroyTV.

The humble Australian was loved by many, for his humility, humour and senssational surfing talents. 

But his sudden and unexpected passing has rocked many throughout the surfing community, with greats Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater leading the tributes for the 53-year-old.

The Aussie surfing great reportedly suffered a fall at his home in Tweed Heads on Sunday and had complained of a sore head. It is understood that he had gone to bed to have a rest but tragically never woke up.  

Herring was born in Manly in 1971 and grew up in Sydney’s northern beaches. His dad worked as a lifeguard and his mother was a barmaid.

His family later moved to Dee Why and it was here that he honed his surfing talents that would see him grow to become one of the most innovative and unique surfers in the business.

Famously, he would go on to trump rival Kelly Slater at the 1992 Coca-Cola Classic championship tour at North Narrabeen at the age of 20.

By that time, Herring had only spent two years on the tour.

‘This is a great moment in my surfing career, to start off really young and get a win now. I’m really stoked,’ Herring told reporters after pocketing a check for US$27,000 for his brilliance in the Coca-Cola Classic.

‘I’m looking forward to a few more years of surfing against Kelly, it’ll be great.’

It was an impressive start to his surfing career which catapulted Herring – who had only turned pro in 1991 – to stardom and world No 1.

Captivated by the battle between him and American great Slater, surfing journalist Derek Hynd wrote: ‘The first strike of a new age. These two will battle for future championships.’

But sadly that would not happen. 

While Slater would go on to amass 11 World Titles and establish himself as one of the greatest surfers ever, Herring’s short career quickly unravelled almost as fast as it had been established.

Herring had suffered from addiction issues, reportedly battling with alcohol and drug problems, with that taking a huge toll on his career. 

Recounting the months after Herring’s win at the Coca-Cola Classic, legendary journalist Monty Webber wrote in Tracks magazine: ‘Over the next few months, Shane’s mates at Dee Why almost killed him with their demented love of him.

‘Every night was like New Year’s Eve and Shane footed the bill. I saw him consume so much alcohol and smoke so much weed one night that I wondered what it was he was trying to prove.

‘I couldn’t help but think he was trying to kill the monster he’d become. But I imagined it was more likely that he was trying to prove to his friends that he was one of them.’

Two years on from his victory in North Narrabeen, Herring fell off the tour and retired, aged 23.

A 10-year battle with drugs and alcohol followed, with Herring going on to live as a recluse in Sydney’s northern beaches.

He had also been admitted to a rehabilitation centre in 2010, and later admitted that much of his earnings during his short but explosive surfing career were mostly spent on drugs and alcohol.

‘A lot of it went up my nose. Started out as coke, but eventually ended up as lower-class drugs. Amphetamines… You don’t even know it when it’s happening,’ Herring told Vaughan Blakey in 2012.

He’d later find work in a surfboard repair shop in Byron Bay and had found a way to get off alcohol in recent years.

Opening up to Webber on his downward spiral, Herring opened up on why he felt he did not go on to achieve more in his career. 

‘Maybe [it was] a lack of self-confidence, maybe drinking too much. Maybe partying too much,’ he told TradeWindSurf, when asked about what the main attributes were in keeping himself going on his successful surfing journey,’ Herring answered.

‘Maybe having too much fun as we’ve talked about. Just having too much fun and having too much money. That’s all you can put it down to.

‘It took three years. Basically, it took three years to reach the top. ‘Obviously, I didn’t win the world title. But it took three years to get to the top and three years to get to the bottom.’

Tributes have been made to the surfing great, with his rival Kelly Slater paying a touching tribute to Herring on social media on Tuesday.

‘Shane Herring,’ the message began. ‘He best blended the old school power and pure lines with the new school mentality and speed in the 90’s. ‘In the years we spent traveling and surfing together, I always found Shane to be a kindhearted guy and an extremely talented surfer, but he had his demons that limited his time of greatness.

‘He loved the purity in surfing and was uncomfortable with the limelight and notoriety and scrutiny it brought him. He made a bigger mark than he might be known for these days and it hurts to know we won’t get to catch up again. I was really looking forward to seeing and maybe even surfing again in the coming months with Shane, whom I haven’t seen in probably 20+ years.

‘This clip is the first final we each ever made on tour and he won in front of his hometown.

‘Ride on, Shane. We’re thinking of ya.’

Surfing World Magazine called him ‘one of Australian surfing’s most blinding talents and one of its happiest tragic figures.’

‘A surfing talent like few we’d ever seen in Australian surfing, Herro burned brief but bright in the early ’90s before flaming out,’ the publication wrote.

Surfing legend Layne Beachley told Daily Mail Australia: ‘He was super dynamic….an aggressive surfer,’ Beachley, a seven-time world champion.

‘I spent a lot of time with him, he was always supportive of me. Surfing was Shane’s safe place, it was his family and gave him a sense of belonging.’

Justin Crawford said Herring ‘was a true gentleman, never said bad by anyone, except concaves in surfboards.

‘Rest easy my friend. We had a beautiful friendship and I treasure every colour of the rainbow (you) were. There will be only one.’