Tom Williams


 

Tom Williams. Thomas Gromas. Tdubbs. 

I first met Tom Williams when he was 14 or 15 years old.  One of the kids he came out with that day, snaked me on a good one (you know who you are…) i kind of lost my cool a bit, spent the next few months looking away whenever tom or his friends took off on waves.  It got harder and harder to look away.  
Tom is another kid, proudly born and raised in Ka’a’awa.  Hawaii is known for their young surfing standouts… i’ve been to all the events, watched heats, coached tom and a handful of other groms and still feel quite confident that there isn’t anyone under the age of 20 in hawaii that has the power surfing rail game that tom has.  Mix that power torquing foundation with the flick, aerial stuff the kids are into these days and he’s practically a gold mine of content.  You can go shoot tom in cruddy conditions, and he will make a section look so pretty, you’re taking photos of the playback preview on the camera and sending it to your friends.  
I’ve heard him referred to as “noble” by other high-schoolers in his classes at Kahuku.  Tom is and underdog.  He knows the struggle, and is keenly aware to treat people kindly.  
While in high school, tom began to pursue some other creative outlets- he and his friends would take turns filming each other and create these little edits they called “Free Candy.”  Tom honed his editing skills, and evolved it into “Free Candy Productions.”