Patrick Gudauskas

American surfer from San Clemente, the eldest of the three Gudauskas brothers, who qualified for the Championship Tour in 2009 and is known for philanthropic work through the Positive Vibe Warriors foundation.

Born in La Jolla, California, on 20 November 1985, Patrick Gudauskas is the eldest of three surfing brothers — three minutes older than twin Dane and several years older than Tanner — raised in a highly competitive San Clemente household by their father Tom, a surf-industry veteran. Despite winning national amateur titles, Pat rarely made individual headlines, with the brothers viewed by fans and media as an inseparable unit. Gudauskas formally qualified for the Championship Tour at Sunset Beach in 2009, fittingly while surfing in the same heat as one of his brothers. His rookie season included reaching the quarter-finals of the Tahiti Pro by landing the first-ever rodeo flip in competition. His career-best result on tour was a semi-final at Bells Beach, where he faced three-time world champion Mick Fanning in one of his final heats before falling off tour, and he returned to the Championship Tour again in 2017 after a four-year stint on the Qualifying Series. Beyond competition, Gudauskas and his brothers are known for their philanthropic work, distributing 200 surfboards to underprivileged communities in Jamaica and running a surf-development project in South Africa, both documented in films including 'Positive Vibration' and 'Can't Steal Our Vibe'. Gudauskas has continued surfing competitively into his late thirties while remaining an influential figure in the San Clemente surf community that has also produced Kolohe Andino and the Colapinto brothers.

Progressive, aerial-focused surfing

Known as much for humanitarian work through Positive Vibe Warriors as for his competitive surfing