Born October 16, 1973 in Sydney, Australia, Rob Machado, is a professional surfer whose home break is Cardiff-by-the-Sea, a community in Encinitas, California.
Machado attended San Dieguito High School and is known for his casual, “laid-back” style both in and out of the water. Though he rides a modern tri-fin he is still considered a “soul-surfer” largely because of his soft-spoken, humble personality and his disinterest in the spotlight, along with his fluid surfing style, which has earned him the nickname “Mr. Smoothy.” He is one of the best-known goofy-foot surfers in the world today.
Rob has won many of pro surfing’s most prestigious contests, including Hawaii’s Pipeline Masters (Triple Crown of Surfing) and the U.S. Open of Surfing, the largest surfing event held on the U.S. mainland. His 2006 win in that competition was only his latest at Huntington Beach and it came on the heels of his victory at the 2006 Monster Energy Pro (also held at Pipeline) on Oahu’s North Shore. Also, Rob was on the “West” team that won the 2006 Summer X Games surfing competition, called “The Game,” held each year in Mexico.
Rob is now retired from the World championship tour (WCT) surfing, but was among the top contenders until injuries began plaguing him in the past few years. Nevertheless, he’s finished in the top three of the world in the year-end rankings twice. Since retiring, he has concentrated on a select few surfing competitions that are close to his heart. The surfing magazines and his videos and films keep him in the public eye.
Rob hosts and participates in an annual event held at his home reef called the Rob Machado Surf Classic and Beach Fair, which is an amateur competition for the locals of all ages, and it includes demo sessions with Rob and other pros, as well as a lunchtime break when he talks with kids and gives them pointers. The competition crowns a King and Queen of the Reef for the best overall performances in a combination of surf-related events over the weekend.
Currently, Rob is still frequently voted in surf magazine polls as readers’ favorites, and has many sponsors, including Hurley, Reef and Nixon. Machado is a very good friend of and served as an inspiration to quadriplegic surfer Jesse Billauer of the Life Rolls On Foundation.
Just like Kelly Slater, he played himself in the 2007 animated picture “Surf’s Up.” He also wrote and starred as himself in the 2009 film “The Drifter.”
Machado was featured in Vogue magazine’s June 2010 summer issue with Blake Lively, in photographs which were taken in Cardiff and Encinitas, California.
Machado is a 2011 inductee into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California in the surf champion category.