• 

  Oäó»Neill signs professional

Press release:

January 28, 2014, Santa Cruz, CA – O’Neill is proud to announce the signing of professional surfer, Torrey Meister.

In November of 2013 Torrey won the Coldwater Classic Invitational and took home the “winner take all” grand prize sponsoship from O’Neill consisting of $50,000 to travel the world and compete in the World Qualifying Series in pursuit of making the World Championship Tour.

“To win the Coldwater Classic definitely makes me feel like I earned it.  That’s more important than anything.  I don’t want anything to be given to me in life, I would rather earn it.” Said Torrey Meister

“We had a great response to the invites that were sent out to 10 of the 16 Coldwater Classic surfers.  Torrey was especially ambitious and happy to get the invite to compete.” Said Shane Skelton Marketing and Team Manager for O’Neill.

“Torrey is an amazing talent and a great addition to our team. We’re extremely stoked to be backing his push for WCT qualification. It’s going to be an exciting year!” Said Pat O’Neill, President & CEO.

Torrey has come into the 2013/14-winter season with wind in his sails.  After his win in Santa Cruz he went straight to Hawaii to compete in the HIC Pro four-star at Sunset, where he made the quarterfinals and received 9th place.   This notable result was followed up by a Backdoor wave that was nominated for Surline’s “Wave of the Winter”.

2014 is going to be busy for Torrey Meister.  He will be competing in all of the ASP Prime events as well as some select ASP star events.  During his travels O’Neill will be producing a video series that follows the long hard WQS road. The first installment of this series “Welcome to Team O’Neill!” is out now and can be seen at https://www.oneill.com/wetsuits/ as well as Surfer, Grind TV and Surfline.

“I’m over the moon but at the same time I am like, alright this is it, no messing around now. You just have to put your head down.  I was grinding it out with no sponsor, now that I have a sponsor I want to work even harder and I want to get to where I want to be and that’s on the WCT.” Said Torrey Meister when asked about his 2014 plans.

ABOUT O’NEILL

O’Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand, was founded in 1952 when a young man named Jack O’Neill took his unstoppable passion for surfing and used it to battle Mother Nature. Jack’s initial vision of producing functional and innovative board riding products continues to lie at the core of everything the company does. From the first neoprene surf wetsuit and board leash to the world’s first stitchless board shorts. O’Neill will always be committed to growing its reputation as one of the world’s leading youth lifestyle brands based on being the First Name in the water.

While many things have changed since those humble beginnings, Jack’s initial vision of producing functional and innovative board riding products continues to lie at the core of everything the company does. O’Neill’s core values — innovation in style and technology — have seen the brand devote itself wholeheartedly to the evolution of the action sports lifestyle.  From the first ever neoprene wetsuit and leash, to the world’s first stitchless boardshorts and range of groundbreaking wearable electronics, O’Neill’s progressive spirit will always drive the company forward. For more information, please visit www.oneill.com/wetsuits.