TAYLOR KNOX

CARLSBAD, CA

BIOGRAPHY

Taylor Knox’s passion for boardsports almost ended his career before it started. At the age of 15, Knox suffered a devastating back injury while skateboarding. Doctors insisted he would never surf competitively, but after undergoing surgery for a damaged lumbar, Knox defied the harsh sentence by turning to a healthy diet, core fitness training and intense physical therapy.

Knox’s ambition to not only recover, but to come back better than ever, led him to one of the most storied careers on the ASP World Championship Tour. The Reef/Taylor Knox relationship dates back to 1998, where Knox infamously rode a 52-foot monster at Todos Santos, winning the Reef Big-Wave World Championships. The ride earned him global notoriety when it was awarded the $50,000 prize at the K2 Big-Wave World Championships.

Knox a.k.a “Captain America,” did two decades on tour, the latter half of which he took out surfers half his age. Knox retired from the ASP after the 2012 season, but still chooses to do select World Qualifying Series events. His surfing at J-Bay also proved one of the highlights of Reef’s 2014 film release, “De Passage.” In 2014, he won the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions trophy over such notables as Tom Curren and Sunny Garcia. Taylor Knox is truly one of surfing’s living legends.