Local surfers have arranged an “Andy Irons paddle out” for Friday at 4.30pm at New Pier, Durban. The event has been organised by top local surfers and administrators.
Julie de Vries of Surfing South Africa, in an e-mail to surfing colleagues, said, “Please can as many surfers attend to show how the surfing world is truly going to miss him. Surfers are welcome from all over the coastline.”
Top Durban surfer Shane Thorne is helping co-ordinate the event.
Durban’s surfing community will honour the spirit, talent and achievements of Hawaiian star Irons, who died on Tuesday night.
Pictured above is a paddle out by all the top surfers in the world at the ASP World Tour Rip Curl Pro in Puerto Rico. World Champion Mick Fanning commented: “We’re a surfing family. We all look out for each other. It was good having the paddle-out, getting everyone together.”
News websites are abuzz with news about Irons’s death and speculation around the circumstances in which he died. Among the reports are that anti-anxiety and sleeping drugs – but no methadone – were found in a Texas hotel room where Irons died.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the three-time ASP world title winner’s final meal, eaten alone in an airport hotel room, was a few cans of soft drink and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup candy bar.
He had checked in to the Grand Hyatt at Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas at 9am on Monday. Almost 24 hours later, he was found dead, lying on his back with the bed sheet “pulled up to his neck”.
According to the report, the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam and a powerful sleeping drug called zolpidem were on the bedside table with a bottle of water nearby.
These details of the Hawaiian legend’s final day are contained in a report prepared by Dallas Fort Worth Airport Police – the first authorities on the scene – and leaked to TMZ.com.
Nine-times world champ Kelly Slater said that he wanted the Rip Curl Pro in Puerto Rico to go ahead as planned as a way of honouring the memory of his greatest rival. When Slater was dominating world surfing, Irons was the only competitor who seemed able to take the fight to him. Slater is on the verge of winning a 10th world championship, and admitted that his own personal goals had been put in perspective by the tragedy. He said getting on with the Puerto Rico event was what Irons would have wanted.
Editor’s note: The speculation around the death of former World Champ Andy Irons continues to fly around. It seems the only way to confirm the cause of death will be through the autopsy report. A toxicology report could take up to 90 days. Claims have emerged that Irons’s sleeping tablets were filled with methadone. His family says he was suffering from dengue fever and many of his colleagues have come out in support of the three-time ASP World Champ.