THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY:
AN INTERVIEW WITH KYLE GARSON

By Terry Gibson

Seven years ago, Kyle Garson was literally on top of the world. The 1995 U.S. Junior Men’s Champ represented the finest in what our coast had to offer in terms of waveriding flair. He dominated several ASP-East Junior Pro events against the likes of fellow Floridian sensations Brian Hewitson and the Hobgood brothers. And he was selected as one of Volcom’s first East Coast teamriders as his freeflow, above-the-lip style fit their anti-establishment image perfectly.

”The number-one reason we were attracted to Kyle was because of his surfing talent,” offered Volcom founder and owner Richard Woolcott. “Back then (mid ‘90s) there was a new charge of surfers coming off the East Coast, and he was a leader of that generation. He had the persona of a surfer on the forefront and that was what our company represented, so he fit our mold perfectly. We had a good bond and a good friendship from the start.”

Kyle was soon plastered all over the magazines in advertisements and editorial spreads and was even asked to write a motivational piece called “Winning Rules” aimed at young professional hopefuls for Surfing Magazine in 1996. To top it all off, his family owned Loma Del Mar Surf Camp in Hermosa, Costa Rica, the perfect escape from Florida’s summertime flat spells as well as an ideal training facility. Talented, likable, and unmistakably original, Kyle Garson watched his pro surfing career skyrocket with no end in sight.

But just five years later and only three weeks after he won the Men’s Pro division at the 2000 NKF Pro, Kyle’s good fortune came to a clanging halt via a pair of handcuffs. In front of friends, teammates, and sponsors, he was arrested for his first of what would turn out to be three drug charges in a single month. It was the beginning of a yearlong descent into limbo for one of the most promising surfers the East Coast had ever produced. Sadly, such stories are commonplace in the surf industry and usually unfold predictably, often entailing serious jail time and occasionally finding tragic closure in the casket. But in Kyle Garson's case, the tired tale may end affirmatively. In light of several recent strong contest showings and after a year-and-a-half of being drug-free, the 24-year-old seems to have resurrected himself. He still has a long way to go to regain his former status in the surf community; however, his recent strides in both the competitive arena and towards staying sober show that he just might make it all the way. ESM sat down for an interview with Kyle at his second home in Costa Rica and found him rediscovering his love for life, surfing, and winning.

ESM: Reemerging after a very dark year in which almost everyone, including your sponsors, wrote you off as a lost cause, you’ve posted a series of impressive contest results—a comeback, some might say. At what point did you begin to feel like your surfing and your life were back on track?
KG: The first contest I did well in was in Puerto Rico, at the Quiksilver Caribbean Cup. I got equal seventh, and that was the first event where I began to feel confident again. The waves were good, and there was heavy competition. I kept stringing a bunch of maneuvers together and climbing through heats against guys like Hewitson, Carlos Cabrero, William Sue a Quan, and Dino Andino. I might’ve done better if I’d really been prepared, but that finish made me feel like getting back on the program.

ESM: And then you posted another great result at the WQS-rated Billabong Pro Panama, followed by two firsts at the Easter Surf Fest and the Lazy Daze Pro-Am....
KG: [Grins sheepishly and looks at the Billabong Pro Panama trophy sitting on the entertainment center] In Panama, I took third and Mike Hoisington won. I left Panama feeling really strong, and it seemed like luck followed me. It felt good to go home and surf against Melhado, Speirdog, Todd Holland, and those guys at the Easter Festival, and this year they had really fun waves, like shoulder-high, which is unusual for the (Cocoa Beach) Pier. After that, I went down to Jupiter for the Lazy Daze, and I won against some of the Sebastian groms—Alek Parker, Phillip Watters, Justin Jones—and some of the better guys from down south.

ESM: Speaking of “some of the better guys,” in Panama you surfed and won a four-man heat with Tom Curren. That must have been wild to go up against such a legend and then beat him...
KG: It was incredible. I was nervous at first, but I went into it with a positive attitude, and I had a good rhythm going through the first heats. After I won and was on the beach is when it really started to sink in. I remember they were doing an interview with me, and I was so stoked, I was just kind of talking but not really knowing what I was saying. It was definitely a surprise and one of my best accomplishments.

ESM: That run showed you can beat both the new generation as well as former WCT chargers and even a World Champion. How did you rekindle your competitive fire after your ordeal?
KG: I was disgusted with what I’d let my surfing career turn into, and with my social habits in general. I felt so jaded; I’d forgotten how much I love surfing, and somehow all of sudden, I just remembered.

ESM: With so many years in the surfing world, how could you have possibly forgotten your love of riding waves?
KG: When things began to get bad, I really wasn’t into surfing. I was more into selling drugs, doing drugs, and hanging out with my friends that did.

ESM: And your drug use eventually got to the point where you were arrested, not once, but three times in a single month....
KG: Yeah. The first time I was arrested, I was at the tradeshow partying in a hotel room. I had a lot of weed on me, and I was messed up on a bunch of other drugs at the time. Some of my friends in another hotel had been too loud or something, and when they searched their room, they found pot. A young girl, who police interrogated, told them it was my bag. So when I walked out of our room, there were cops in the lobby asking to see our I.D.’s. When I showed them mine, they handcuffed me, and I was arrested. I was charged with possession of over 20 grams—a felony. That was the beginning of a heavy downward spiral in my life. I was arrested twice more, both on marijuana charges, so in one month, I was arrested three times. I’d been in jail, and I was getting to the point where I didn’t even care. My parents own a piece of paradise in Costa Rica, and I was almost content with the thought of going to jail. “Yeah, I’ll just go to jail.” That’s so hard to believe now. It’s just so far away from the way I look at life now.

ESM: Even though you were arrested for only marijuana, when you say you were, “on a bunch of other drugs,” it sounds like you were also messing with stuff much heavier than a little pot...
KG: For about six month before I got arrested, I started getting into harder drugs more frequently, and that’s really what led to my arrest. Those drugs began to take down my standards and made me a lot different of a person than I was before. I think that anyone who can do without drugs—even pot—is much better off. Kids don’t realize this, but pot is definitely a gateway drug. I mean, you hear that cheesy shit in school, but it’s true. With pot I eventually felt like I wasn’t getting high enough, so I wanted to experience a new high, a different high, a more intense high, until all the lines I’d drawn for myself when I first started doing drugs just got grayer and grayer.

ESM: When you finally felt like you’d had enough, did you have to go to rehab, or did you do something else?
KG: I barely remember those months. I can’t even tell you when things happened exactly, but basically my Dad had to drag me down to Costa Rica. I think if I would have stayed in Florida and gone through rehab, I would have gone back to jail and stayed on drugs the rest of my life. Costa Rica was the right place for me to recover and rediscover surfing and myself. It’s the whole “Pura Vida” thing. There’s a presence of life here—in the people, the trees, the birds, the rain, the water, the waves... I just felt I needed to be here.

ESM: But do you think that this place that helped heal you, ironically might keep you from contests and a career because of its isolation from the surf industry? I mean, if you whack the lip at a jungle break and there’s no one around to hear it, did you make a sound?
KG: I like knowing that I have Loma del Mar to enjoy now and to fall back on. Right now, I’m totally focusing on my surfing and of course, my personal stuff. At this point, I feel what’s best for me is to be here in Costa Rica because I need to be able to surf all the time. I need that constant routine in my lifestyle to keep me out of trouble. I need to regain my full mental and physical health. While I’m here surfing these waves, I’m improving faster than I could at other places where I would be more in the public eye. And if I focus on what’s best for my surfing, then regardless of what happens with the media, I’ll get the most out of my career. I plan on coming back into the industry and contests, but I want to take things slowly and carefully pick select events in which to appear. I’m gaining all this confidence in myself and in Mark’s (Wooster) boards, so I want to go out and be seen winning, too.

ESM: You’re on probation now—literally in terms of the law and figuratively in the surf industry. Looking back to before you got into trouble, what advice would you give to groms facing similar temptations?
KG: I don’t want to seem like the kind of person who preaches, “Don’t do drugs,” even though that is my opinion. I feel that way because I don’t think you can teach anyone anything by just telling them about it. You could say, “Look at me. I know. I’ve been there,” but unfortunately, you can’t learn something like that from somebody else. What I’ve found for myself is that you start doing drugs and you think you’re being different, trying to escape what’s real. But it just ends up totally wrong. You take all these things to make you relax and be comfortable with people, but eventually you can’t feel those things without drugs. It’s just hiding who you are. It’s hiding from yourself.

ESM: Now that you’ve gotten your competitive engine firing on all cylinders, do you think you can keep your momentum going?
KG: I really think I can keep the drive in my contest surfing. I found the desire to win that I haven’t had since I was young. I enjoy the competitive thing—being out in the water in heats, getting focused, getting in the groove, and making heats. Winning feels really good. I’m just in that part of my life right now where I’m going to put 110% into my surfing, into every session, every contest.

ESM: It sounds like you’re ready to put all of your negative experiences behind you...
KG: Well, all this hardship, as much as it’s been painful, it’s also been a great blessing because this is what it took to make me realize what I have. I mean, it got to the point where people avoided me or at least wouldn’t look straight at me, as if the things they used to like about me were dead. I hated myself for that. I want to always remember that I could have done a lot more back then. But I also recognize that I’m still young and everything is up to me. I can make responsible decisions again and think properly with my own mind. I’m so much happier and more content with myself right now, and that’s really the only thing that’s important.