The 32-year-old was found by a hotel employee around 10:00 this morning.
According to reports, Irons had planned to travel back to his home in Hawaii — but fell ill and that’s why he booked his room in Dallas.
Law enforcement tells us an official cause of death has not been determined.
UPDATE: The Irons family has released a statement saying, “[Andy] had reportedly been battling with dengue fever, a viral disease.”
Story developing…
The U.S. House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution (H. Res. 792) offered by Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) recognizing World Champion Surfer Kelly Slater for winning the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Bell Championship and for his numerous other victories and contributions to the sport of surfing. Sixty House Members in all cosponsored the Kelly Slater Resolution.
“Slater has worked hard to master a sport that so many have tried but so few have actually been able to conquer,” said Congressman Posey who represents Slater’s home town of Cocoa Beach, FL. “His world championship record is impressive and is certainly worthy of recognition.”
“Kelly Slater’s skill and achievements have earned him many fans in Hawaii, the birthplace of surfing,” said Congresswoman Mazie Hirono. “Two decades after winning his first professional surf contest, we in the islands are proud of our part-time resident as he continues to add to his string of successes out on the waves.”
Florida’s first surfing champion, Robert Kelly Slater, was born in Cocoa Beach where he learned to surf with his brothers. In 1992, Slater was the youngest surfer to win the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship and, in 2008, he became the oldest to win that title. Slater is also the first surfer ever to be awarded two perfect scores under the ASP two wave scoring system and is a six time winner of the Billabong Pipeline Masters for the top forty-five ranked surfers by the ASP. In 2007, Slater started the Kelly Slater Foundation to raise awareness and support for environmental and social issues.
Slater’s other accomplishments include:
- He is a six-time winner of Billabong Pipeline Masters.
- Slater won five consecutive Association of Surfing Professionals titles.
- He is a two time winner of the Triple Crown of Surfing.
- Slater currently has 42 World Championship Tour victories.
- He also holds a record 9 Association of Surfing Professionals World Championships.
- Slater is surfing’s all-time leader in career event wins.
- In 2002 Slater was inducted into Surfers Hall of Fame.
Nearly 40% of all east cost surfing occurs in Florida and despite tough economic times, the surf industry remains resilient showing $7.22 Billion in sales in 2008 and considerable growth over the past few years according to research performed by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association(SIMA). Cocoa Beach, FL is home to many surf shops including Ron Jon’s flag ship store, which was recently named one of the 25 Best Independent Retailers by Business Week and employs 500 people with $50 million in revenue.
Sorry to say: I love the concept, but this site is exactly why people think Flash is bad.
Tom Brown is pleased to announce the launching of one of the first of its kind, virtual surfing museums on line. ‘MR. SURF JUNK is my opportunity to give back to the surfing community in a way that helps preserve our surfing history’, states Brown.
“The items found in the museum are artifacts which I have collected over the years from my early childhood days as a young boy surfing the frigid waters of Santa Cruz.” The website is easy to navigate. It contains articles from the 1960’s 1970’s and through the 1980’s. It allows the surfer the opportunity to visit ten different rooms displaying 500 photos, 50 photos in each room.
Each photo contains a detailed description of the item being displayed. Topics touched upon include vintage surf magazines from the top publishers (some now extinct), contest posters and programs from events held around the world, movie posters and programs from some of the finest surf film makers of our time, surf books, comics, LP’s, vintage surfboard brochures and price lists, skate history, and an entire room dedicated to rare, one-of-a-kind articles.
A true collection of goods from the early days of the sport. Some, newer items from the 21st century are briefly touched upon as well.
“The launching of Mr. Surf Junk’s Surfing Museum is my way of giving back to the surfing community and keeping the stoke alive for future generations,” enthused Brown. Prior to launching MR. SURF JUNK, Tom spent the later portion of his career working with Shaun Tomson at Solitude Clothing and the more recent re-launch of the iconic brand INSTINCT Clothing.
In addition to these two ventures, Brown held the position of Sales Manager with Virginia Beach based Life On A Board and manufacturer’s rep for Oxbow clothing. Most recently he held the position of distributor for Oxbow Surfboards in Northern and Central California.
To view the site, please visit mrsurfjunk.com. Feel free to comment or add information by contacting Brown at tom@mrsurfjunk.com
