Sean O'Brien (professional windsurfer)
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
windsurfer, owner of his own website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
company and owner of his own professional sports team. He is based in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and spends most of the year living in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, competing on the Professional Windsurfing World Tour.
As a windsurfer, he has won numerous Australian and Oceanic titles, both as a youth and adult as well as being ranked in the Top 10 in the world for Formula Windsurfing
Formula Windsurfing
'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
(2007).
In 2007, O'Brien completed the hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
of winning the Formula Windsurfing Australian Championships, Oceanic Championships and the RS:X Australian Championships in one season. This qualified Sean for the Australian National Olympic Squad and also hoisted him inside the Top 10 rankings in the World for Formula Windsurfing.
History
O'Brien was brought up in Brisbane, Australia, living at home with his older sister Katrina, and parents Robyn and John. After finishing high-school at Marist College Ashgrove, Sean completed a Bachelor of Psychology at University of QueenslandUniversity of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
in Brisbane.
O'Brien had competed in a variety of sports outside of windsurfing, including competing in Pan-Pacific School Games and many National Titles for athletics (discus throw
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...
) and also representing Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
for soccer in his younger years.
Media attention
Over the past few years, O'Brien has attracted the media's attention, including being interviewed on Channel 7's morning show, SunriseSunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...
with former World Champion, Steve Allen and also a sizeable feature on Channel 9's afternoon children's show, HotSource. This was on top of many magazine and newspaper articles including Boards, Freesail, Motion and Deutsch magazines as well as sizeable internet coverage around the globe.
2007
- 1st Australian RS:X Championships (Melbourne, Australia)
- 1st Australian FormulaFormula Windsurfing'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
Championships (Perth, Australia) - 1st Oceanic FormulaFormula Windsurfing'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
Championships (Perth, Australia) - 9th Overall, FormulaFormula Windsurfing'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
Euro-Cup Event (Isle of Wight, England) - 15th Overall, FormulaFormula Windsurfing'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
Euro-Cup Event (Silvaplana, Switzerland) - 5th Overall, FormulaFormula Windsurfing'Formula windsurfing' is the high performance competitive course racing format of the windsurfing world. These boards have a massive wind range that enables racing in very light winds from 7 knots up to 25 knots and are capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots....
Dutch National Championships (Almere, Netherlands)
Professional status
- Member of Australian National Olympic Squad, 2006
- Part of the racing and development team for Gaastra Sails
- Member and founder of TEAM-AUS.com.au, an elite performance sporting team based in Australia
Sporting achievemenets
- Ranked #11 in the World for formula windsurfing
- Formula Windsurfing Australian Champion 2006, 2007, 2009
- RS:X Olympic Class Australian Champion 2007
- Ranked #1 in Olympic and Formula class in Australia
- Formula Windsurfing Oceanic Champion 2005, 2007, 2009