Greg Long on fear - video

Stu Nettle (stunet)
Swellnet Dispatch
Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Like a TED talk in three minutes, Greg Long works the stage articulating his response to fear.

Comments

caml Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 02:30 pm new

It was two and a half yrs ago that greg drowned and survived at cortes . Theres been quite a few stories about the road to recovery for him . He still hasn't gotten back to the form it seems .hopefully one day he will but we can only wait n see . Must be a traumatic experience if you value your life like greg seems to . Fear & public speaking has been taken on well by other big wave chargers like mark mathews & mark visser . I think MM is fantastic at it , it certainly scares the shit out of me . Greg starts out like hes reading a note with a gun to his head but then moves along with more heartfelt words . I hope they paid him well to do that . Its a very meaningful story & I really hope greg rides again . He really set the bar for a few years & still is the greatest big wave rider I ever seen live paddling in to the bomb sets

zenagain Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 08:46 pm new

I thought so too that the start sounded quite laboured and scripted but as he got going the words flowed more naturally.

I remember a great written interview with him in a surfers journal a few years ago. There's no question of his dedication to his art. Total total respect to him and further to your comments Caml that he hasn't gotten back to his former self, having seen the other side, maybe deep down inside somewhere he realises there's more to life than surfing. Or at the very least, it isn't worth dying for.

goofyfoot Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 08:47 pm new

Never knew you had a bit of Scottish in you Zen!
"Gooten" :)

zenagain Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 08:56 pm new

Aye, but fixed noo laddy.

caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 09:48 pm new

I wish I could see this other side where theres more to life than surfing

batfink Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 at 03:41 pm new

Yeah, I'm not sure you do caml. Wife and kids are great, but you have to work for them as they all want to eat and live in a house, damn them.

It does impinge on your surfing, I can assure you.

Where's stu? He is in the thick of a young brood at the moment, at least mine are approaching the end of their schooling life.

As for the vid, I think Greg did it well, and don't think he was too stiff at the start. Felt to me like he was just starting slow to get people into the mood of what he was talking about. It's an effective way to speak to a crowd.

Wasn't aware of his near drowning, or had just forgotten about it as I would normally expect to have read it.

That sort of stuff definitely makes you re-think.

stunet Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 at 04:02 pm new

Yep, right in the thick of it, singing the Child Rearing Blues. Next month we're going on our very first family holiday, five of us heading to Plantation Island just 30 mins from Restaurants and Cloudbreak. I'm both praying for swell and not.

southey Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 10:05 pm new

it is both ugly and beautiful and ugly camel . Sometimes the grass is green , other times its a fucking wasteland .

caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 10:50 pm new

I did die & go halfway to the sky once . Malaria . At bangko bangko . I felt the euphoric life replays before ya eyes shit . But after a hundred metres up I returned to my body . A brief glimpse of the other side but it only felt euphoria & then I was back & there was slightly a job to do now ahead . I did see the movie / film of my life play out & it wasnt amazing but the endorphins in my body did feel good as I died for a brief moment my organs overheating & shutting down . Filling a few litres bottles with urine as I awoke on the death bed . Strange considering I wasnt hydrated

caml Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 at 12:54 am new

I keep coming back to this clip of greg . Such a incredible guy . He once alienated me for not waiting for set waves . But he didn't know it was the first time that tow surfers weren't taking every wave . Telling me that one set wave was worth way more than 100 mid size waves

mick-free Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 at 11:32 am new

Long must be a patient guy.....I would love to grab the little big ones when he's out surfing.

Are you in contact with him Camel? I felt like he got faded pretty bad by McNamara on that wave that drowned him

Tom Donaldson Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 11:07 am new

I agree. In the interviews with McNamara that followed, he never apologised or appeared to express regret at his decision to go. Yes, in the big stuff, people put their blinkers on when paddling for a wave - they have to, such is the critical nature of the moment. But I was really unimpressed that he didn't even appear to admit any mistake on his part or show some meekness about what had happened to Greg. Classic "Alpha" trait. Tool

caml Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 10:49 am new

No mick not often .

caml Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 01:16 pm new

Mick & jim im not so sure if blaming g.mac is the reason he got drowned . I did read lots of the reports & stories following the incident . When u surf u take the risk yourself & if someone is in your way or bails their board , drops in , watever its no use blaming them is it ? Shit happens surfing & when your surfing the biggest wave on earth like cortes shit may well happen . Greg had a very good safety team there for these possible occurrences . His floaty vest failed to inflatable also , so who u gunna blame for that ? G.mac did apologize I think you can Google it and read it

lostdoggy Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 01:22 pm new

Here's Garrett's statement for those interested.

https://www.surfermag.com/features/garrett-mcnamaras-statement/#O6CHLYWc…

zenagain Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 01:45 pm new

Thanks Lostdoggy.

Adds credence to the term 'shit happens'.

tonybarber Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 02:05 pm new

For many of us who have not reached that level, this was a very interesting talk. Great concept TED. It would be interesting to get a few more, say from Hamilton and others at that level.

Tom Donaldson Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 03:19 pm new

My bad, I hadn't come across that article. Thanks for posting

caml Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 11:31 pm new

There's some good footage of Puerto on the clip

southey Friday, 17 Jul 2015 at 12:41 am new

wow has anyone got footage of Joel Tudour choking out Liam ?!?
I thought this forum was tough , the one lostdoggy posted to was near brutal .

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