Kym Thompson

Kym Thompson started surfing in the long board era of the 60’s. He was a junior state champion and a well respected early member of the Seaview Road Board Riders Club where he earned the nickname “Roader”. He has been shaping since the age of 15 and his shapes are evolutions of decades of development transitioning some great designs in all forms.

In 1969 Kym started shaping for John Arnold’s in Adelaide, then moved to Don Burford’s in 1970. In 1971, Kym moved to the coastal town Torquay, seeing a bright future and the opportunity to surf the then uncrowded waves of the west coast of Victoria. In this period Kym shaped simultaneously for Ripcurl, Klemm-Bell and Pat Morgan and shortly after became the head shaper for Klemm-Bell Surfboards in Torquay.

In 1975 Kym founded one of surfing's iconic surfboard brands 'Watercooled'.

For many years Kym was based in Thailand where he was invited to join Cobra International company and he has been instrumental is setting up a world class surfboard production facility. This company has a vast and extensive background in composite construction methods which he recognised was to play a vital roll in the ongoing and future development of surfboard technologies and design.  This platform allowed him to explore and bring new concepts and constructions methods which ultimately benefits manufacturers and consumers alike and he was able to continue to pursue his ideals to deliver quality products that set standards of excellence.

Kym, a highly respected family man, was  committed to his original undertaking which saw the brand Watercooled become a bench mark others judged their products by. He is highly regarded within the international surf industry for his knowledge, talents and manufacturing skills. He was fortunate to be able to live the surfers dream whilst pursuing his career where  he enjoyed surfing both famous and remote locations around the world.

Kym tragically passed away  in November 2022. He was a trailblazer in surfboard design and was a great family man  who was loved by many. RIP legend .