06 Jul #005: Andrew Cotton | Red Bull Big Wave Surfer

Posted at 06:03h in Podcast by mrxrm

EPISODE #005 – Andrew Cotton

Andrew Cotton (@andrew_cotton) is, according to British newspaper The Daily Mail, Britain’s most famous plumber.

He’s also one of the world’s most accomplished big wave surfers and in 2014 riding a wave estimated to be 80 feet high only narrowly missed claiming the world record for the biggest wave ever surfed.

It was Andrews father who first introduced him to the sport as a young man, the same person who then sat him down in his early 20s after he’d lost a couple of his sponsors and told him he needed to get a job and get on with his life.

Andrew complied, completed his plumbing apprenticeship and got a job.

Torn between his love of surfing and a career, he backed himself and with the support of his wife turned all his efforts back to surfing.

Today, as a Red Bull athlete, Andrew travels the world in search of perfect waves and a dream to ride the biggest of all time. He speaks to large corporation’s regularly on topics including high-stakes decision making and the like. In 2014 he traveled to Brooklyn, New York to speak at TedYouth, the division of Ted that caters for middle school and high school students. To learn more about Andrew visit his website here.

We caught up as he prepared for the big wave season in Portugal. Amongst my attempt to figure out the sport of surfing in one conversation, there’s some real gems here.

We discuss life’s turning points, mental preparation and his thoughts on goal setting.

You can find Andrew at andrewcotton.co.uk, on Instagram, Facebook and on Twitter.

Enjoy Trench Talk episode #005 with Andrew Cotton…