“The down side to raising professional surfers, if there is one, is that when they’re good, you don’t get to see them,” says Pete Lopez, pictured here with his oldest son, Shea, who was at home recently before jetting to Tahiti.
Top-ranked, professional surfers Cory and Shea Lopez are the country’s only surfing siblings to have won both an X Games Gold Medal and a US Open Championship. Now 28 and 31, respectively, they’ve both competed since their early teens, and continue to do so, winning untold contests and sponsorship dollars. What you may not realize, is that these surfing superstars grew up here, not in California or Hawaii, but in Indian Rocks Beach.
“That they have come from this relatively non-surfing culture,” says their father, Pete Lopez,” is a novelty.” “The number one surfer in the world, Kelly Slater, has called Shea and Cory the best.”
An avid surfer himself, Pete Lopez taught Shea and Cory to ride the surf, traveling with them to Florida’s East Coast when Gulf waves no longer presented a challenge. When he was just 11, Shea won the Cocoa Beach Easter contest. “It was pretty cool,” recalls Shea. “But I was very competitive as a kid. I’d enter expecting to win.”
“Then Cory kicked into gear,” adds Pete. “He just wanted to be as good as his big brother.” And he is. Cory finished 3rd at this year’s Rip Curl Pro in Australia.
The Lopez brothers compete in 20-30 competitions a year in some of the most exquisite places on earth. Following Australia, they traveled to Tahiti and Figi and they’ll wrap up their summer outrunning big waves and big whites on the coast of South Africa.
“There are sharks everywhere we go,” says Shea nonchalantly. “There are lots of others things to fear: car crashes, airplanes, getting a bad piece of chicken.”
“I get scared when I’m on the beach watching huge, powerful waves and I know I’ve got to get out there in it,” adds Cory. “That shark fear sets in when it’s beginning to get dark and I’m the only guy out there.”
Despite the dangers, neither Lopez would trade the life they’ve created for themselves. “It’s great to be able to have a job that allows you to do what you love to do,” says Cory. “The lifestyle is definitely the biggest plus.”
While Cory and Shea plan to surf for years to come, they’ll both be involved in their dad’s latest venture, a surf shop on the main drag in Indian Rocks Beach. “We’re thinking ‘Tahitian beach atmosphere with a surf-themed restaurant attached,’” says Pete. “We may name it something as simple as Lopez Brothers Surf Shop.” Look for the coolest shop in town to open as early as this fall.
For More Summer Guide to Cool - Find the June/July Issue of Tampa Bay Metro at your local newstand.
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