Rider Profile: Matt Cirillo

Mission Viejo, California

Spring 2005

A dedicated bodyboarder surfs everyday. Matt Cirillo has gone above and beyond that to the extent of getting a tattoo to show his love for the sport (pictured to the right).

“I got my tattoo because it shows who I am and what my life is about. The events that led up to it was that I wanted a tattoo and I wanted something that would show who I am.”

He saw the design on the Internet and fell in love with it.

“The design is used by BSD bodyboards in Hawaii, so I took it from them and used it.”

He has gotten a lot of comments on his permanent expression of love for bodyboarding.

“People love it, they are like ‘oh man that’s that guy with the bodyboarder tattoo.’ And then there are people that don't know what it is. That makes me laugh when they ask that.”

The 20-year old Cirillo was raised in Mission Viejo, California where he still lives today.

He rides a variety of boards ranging from 2002 Hubb Graphic 42.5, 2005 Custom X IZM 42.5 and a 2005 Custom X V-Foil 42.5.

He is all about bodyboarding and it shows with his enthusiasms.

“It’s my life, my love, my passion and everything to me. It makes me happy.”

His life is riding the best waves California has to offer. And he is pretty good at it because he is sponsored by Custom X, Alternative Surf, Sense Boardwear, No Friends and Lonesoldier. Forget sponsors and hearsay because Cirillo lets his riding dot he talking.

“I arrived at the Wedge it was a perfect summer day. My heart had been racing all day because I knew that it was gonna be big and heavy. We pulled up and parked and I told my buddy Garrett that it would be huge. All that was going through my mind was ‘Am I gonna get killed out there?’ I began to sketch, but then once I got on the sand everything was OK. It was so crowded there were thousands of people on the sand and a lot of people in the water, photographers everywhere and just people covering the sand. I got in the water and was ready to charge it. I saw a huge set wave coming and I got on it, airdropped down and into the pit. I was so deep inside of the waves I just kept my eyes opened and just charged it. I caught more waves that day and I was pulling spins and rolls and some inverts and ARS's on the smaller waves. When I got out of the water after my session lots of people were like wow you are crazy man for riding those waves and a few photographers approached me.”

The Wedge was 20 to 25 feet that day and he proved himself. That was not the crowning moment of his surfing career though.

“The magical day at 204's in San Clemente was amazing. I will never forget it. It was September 4, 2002 and it was the funnest day I have ever had bodyboarding. The waves were big around 10-15. When 204's gets big a lot of people can’t surf it because it's very heavy and dangerous. There were about 10 guys out and the waves were absolutely perfect. It was amazing. They were breaking way out at the reef, which is like 200-yards outside, and you could ride them all the way in from the outside. You were getting like 30-45 second waves. While riding all day I was pulling the best tricks of my life, perfect fast spins, reverse spins, huge invert, rolls and ARS's I was having such a blast. Pulling all of my maneuvers was so much easier because when you have big pitching waves you can hit the lip and throw your big tricks. The strength of the waves make it a lot easier to pull tricks. I got a lot of big deep tubes and I got a few in and out barrel, which is rare for California. I rode all day for about eight hours and it will go down as the best day of bodyboarding in my life.”

Cirillo really loves bodyboarding and will continue his dream of going pro and currently is competing as an amateur and has done so for the past five years. His riding is progressing and he hopes the sport will move with it.

“I can't explain the feeling that I get when I am bodyboarding there is nothing like it. I love the sport with all my heart and I want to see it take off in the future and progress into more then what it is today.”

He believes in the near future Bodyboarding will grow and progress and become bigger and more like surfing.

“Just give it time. That’s the most important thing. It needs time to grow and get more popular. Our time will come”

In the meantime he will be considering his next tattoo.