1929 - 2014

When Bondi surfing legend Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan died in 2014 aged 85, he was Australia's (and possibly the world’s) oldest competitive surfer. He spent his early days body and hand-board surfing – until he tried board riding at Bondi in 1944.

McGuigan was born in Paddington in 1929 and grew up in Tamarama, attending Bondi Public School. He recalled first seeing surfers at Tamarama in the late 1930s. McGuigan took up surfing at Bondi aged 14, on a 15-foot hollow plywood ‘toothpick’ board.

Although inspired by the legendary Bondi surfer pioneer Jack ‘Bluey’ Mayes, McGuigan recalled there were no tutors in those days. ‘We just watched other surfers and tried to copy what we observed. It was a challenge just to stand up and keep your balance. Toothpicks weighed about 40 pounds.’

Followed in his father’s footsteps, McGuigan trained to be a butcher. But after observing the surf-friendly lifestyle of a fireman friend (four days on, four off) he joined the fire brigade for a 32-year career.

McGuigan competed in his first surf event in the early 1950s, before heading overseas. He bluffed his way into the Makaha contest in Hawaii in 1963, telling organisers he was a Tasmanian surf champion. McGuigan recalled paddling out into the famed Makaha Bowl. “I caught my only wave straight to the bottom, was held down for 2 waves and swam into the beach with my tail between my legs.”

He attributed his surfing longevity – regularly defeating surfers half his age – to keeping away from ‘some of the other stuff people have got into’ and to practicing Hatha yoga. He married at 56 and moved to the Central Coast with wife Debbie. She encouraged him to return to competitive surfing at 58 after he retired from firefighting.

As a surprise for his 70th birthday, she collaborated with the Central Coast Malibu Boardriders on the first Magoo Charity Classic, a competition now held every year to raise money for cancer research.

In 2012, aged 83, McGuigan placed second in the over-65s NSW Longboard titles despite undergoing treatment for lymphoma. He passed away two years later. He has been inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

Courtesy of Debbie McGuigan and Terry Jenkings.