At 7yrs old Anthony started his watery journey by standing on the rocks where the waves would break, mesmerized by the energy of the Ocean, imagining what it would be like to experience it. Surrounded by a strong and proud surf community, he started learning the Ocean, its hazards and rewards, and the tools necessary to safely tame it. He was surrounded by a proud and traditional community, where rugged explorers were common, and in this environment learned what it meant to be a surfer.

At 16 years old, Anthony, nicknamed ‘Tazy’ now, ditched school and attempted to surf Mavericks, one of the heaviest waves on the planet, for his first time. Anthony paddled into a wave bigger than any surfer that year worldwide. That one wave changed his life. As a young kid Anthony had now gained acceptance from the small pack of Hellman who surfed there, and truly began his lifelong relationship with big waves.

In 2004 Anthony received an invitation to surf in the Mavericks Competition for his first time. He was 19 years old making him the youngest invitee ever. Only 24 of the world’s best big wave elite receive this invitation. Anthony surfed against 23 of his childhood hero’s and ended up a finalist finishing 4th place in that event.

The following year at age 20 he took home the title. Anthony is still the youngest champion to have won first place at the Big Wave Mavericks Invitational Event.

Anthony now lives in Santa Cruz and can be seen chasing waves up and down the California coast. Anthony is a health conscious super human athlete and outstanding waterman. He has an undeniable love for the ocean, and his passion for wave energy drives his desire to explore, finding new waves, new ways of riding them, and new ways of sharing them. He is very active in creating and testing new designs, and in finding new expression through the medium of the Ocean.

Anthony enjoys sharing his passion of riding waves with others. He has been working with Wounded Warrior programs and Operation Surf over the past few years. They run a program that takes veterans who have been injured in battle and shares surfing with them. The veterans, some of them amputees, are given a new understanding of what is possible, and experience the healing stoke of surfing Ocean waves.

He is involved with surf foundations that support children with conditions such as autism or systic fibrosis. They are given the opportunity to experience the joy and thrill of riding waves with the expert guidance from surfers like Anthony in a safe environment. The transformation of these kids once they experience riding waves is magical.

Tazy is also an accomplished amateur videographer and editor, and enjoys making shorts that document many of his surf adventures. He shares the Ocean through his art and photography. He shapes and experiments with his own boards, and works with some of the top shapers in the big wave community on technical details. One of his favorite projects is what he calls his ‘Super Mini’s’ which are 2-3 foot boards that fit in the office or even the arms of a 3 year old, anywhere a surfer is out of the water but needs equipment to get the imagination there.

Anthony was honored to have recently stunt doubled for the Hollywood movie Chasing Mavericks, starring Gerard Butler and Jonny Weston, which was the story of Jay Moriarty , a young surfer from Santa Cruz, whose inspirational life helped to inspire Tazy’s own pursuit of Mavericks.

Anthony was a finalist in this year’s Mavericks contest, the second stop on the inaugural year of the Big Wave World Tour, and is working towards locking down future spots in the remaining events in his pursuit of the title of Big Wave World Champion.