Taylor Knox

Taylor Knox born May 15 1971 is an American professional surfer Knox was born in Thousand Oaks California and began surfing at 8 years old He moved with his family to Carlsbad at 13 and continued to pursue his dream of becoming a pro surfer At age 15 he had to undergo back surgery after a damaged lumbar vertebra from a skateboarding accident threatened to paralyze him He spent the next six months in a cocoonlike body cast In 1990 Knox participated in the World Amateur Championships in Japan He finished fourth place ahead of fellow USA teammate Kelly Slater who placed fifth He began his ASP World Tour campaign in 1993 In February 1998 Knox won the inaugural K2 BigWave Challenge an event that offered 50000 to the surfer who caught the biggest wave of the winter and had photographic evidence The winning wave was a 52foot ride at Todos Santos during the Reef BigWave World Championships In 1999 Knox took a oneyear hiatus from the World Tour He returned in 2001 and achieved his highest ASP World Tour rating of 4th place In August 2011 Knox was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame at Huntington Beach alongside George Downing and Chuck Linnen Surfers Hall of Fame founder Aaron Pai said Knox had influenced an entire generation of surfers