NEW world champion Mick Fanning's thoughts were of his late brother as a dolphin swam nearby while he clinched the crown at Imbituba in Brazil.
Fanning ended seven years of American dominance, giving Australia its first men's world title since Mark Occhilupo in 1999.
The 26-year-old Gold Coaster clinched the title when he outlasted remaining rivals Taj Burrow and Kelly Slater in the penultimate event of the season, the Santa Catarina Pro.
Fanning was in the water waiting for his semi-final against childhood friend Joel Parkinson when Burrow was eliminated by fellow Australian Tom Whitaker and his dream was realised.
"I woke up this morning and I just had a good feeling that it was going to happen today," Fanning said. "It was so amazing to be out there with Joel.
"When I realised I'd won, I went, 'What do we do, Joel?' and he was like, 'I don't know'."
Not done, workaholic Fanning went on to beat Parkinson then claim his ninth world tour event win by beating Australian rookie Kai Otton in the final.
"To take the reins over from Oc (Occhilupo) is incredible," Fanning said.
"He is pretty much the legend of the sport. He's such a character and such a cool guy."
Fanning has been a model of consistency in his climb to world champion but it has not come easily.
Raised by a single mother who now manages his career, Fanning lost his older brother Sean, also a gifted surfer, in a car accident as a teenager.
The two were very close and Fanning wondered at the presence of a dolphin in the water yesterday.
"It was so cool with Joel out there in the semi-final and there was a dolphin out there, I'm not sure if it was my brother or what," Fanning said.
"Every heat I've had today there has been a dolphin right there in the line-up, just chilling."
Born in Penrith, NSW, Fanning, his four siblings and mother moved to Coolangatta on Queensland's Gold Coast when he was a toddler and he grew up surfing with Parkinson and Dean Morrison, known collectively as the Cooly Kids.
"Joel and Dean are the reason that I train so hard," Fanning said.
"When I was a kid, those guys used to smoke me all the time. I was always trying to be better than those guys."
Making his debut on the world tour in 2002 after finishing No. 1 in the world qualifying series, Fanning was fifth in his rookie year and moved up to No. 4 in 2003 before finishing No. 3 in 2005 and 2006.
His lowest year-end rating of No. 7 came in 2004 after he tore his hamstring from the bone in a freesurfing incident midway through the season.
"Even though I was injured, it was probably the best six months of my life. I didn't have to worry about surfing.
"I had fun with my friends and, at the end of it, I found the girl that I love and want to marry.
"So even though it was bad for my body, it was a million more times better for my mind and my heart."
Fanning is engaged to be married in February to his long-time girlfriend, Gold Coast model Karissa Dalton.
Since winning the Billabong Pro in South Africa in 2006, Fanning has featured in seven finals.
He has also finished as a semi-finalist three times and a quarter-finalist twice from the past 15 events.
This year he had already won the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and the Quiksilver Pro France.
Parkinson was thrilled for Fanning after their semi-final.
"It was pretty cool, we were speechless," Parkinson said.
Occhilupo was quick to congratulate Fanning.
"I get goose bumps just thinking about it," Occhilupo said.
"It's been eight years and we've got it back to Australia.
Fanning is now Australia's ninth men's world champion after "Midget" Farrelly (1964), "Nat" Young (1966 and 1970), Paul Neilsen (1972), Ian Cairns (1973), Mark Richards (1975 and 1978-82), Peter Townend (1976), Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew (1978), Tom Carroll (1983-84), Damien Hardman (1987 and 1991), Barton Lynch (1988) and Occhilupo in 1999.
AAP
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Aussie Fanning wins surfing world title - NineMSN - 7th November 2007
Mick Fanning has become the first Australian to win the men's surfing world title in eight years at the Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old secured the world crown following the elimination of rivals Kelly Slater and Taj Burrow in the fourth round and quarter-finals respectively at the tour event in South America.
Having picked up the nation's first men's title since Mark Occhilupo in 1999, Fanning went on to claim the event by edging out countryman Kai Otton in the final.
The Gold Coaster has been ultra-consistent this year, reaching the semi-final in eight of the nine rounds.
He has finished third behind eight-time champion Slater in the title race for the past two seasons before finally trumping the American master this time around.
Fanning has been at the front of the pack since his rookie year in 2002, only missing a top-five finish on one occasion.
That was in 2004 when he missed most of the year due to severe hamstring injury from a freak wipeout in Indonesia that almost brought a premature end to his career.
He completely tore the hamstring and tendons from his bone and was left with a softball sized lump of muscle below his backside.
He endured an eight-hour boat trip and three-day journey without painkillers - and even had to bribe Indonesian immigration - just to get home.
The final event on the world tour is the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii from December 8-20.
Media Man Australia Profile
Surfing
The 26-year-old secured the world crown following the elimination of rivals Kelly Slater and Taj Burrow in the fourth round and quarter-finals respectively at the tour event in South America.
Having picked up the nation's first men's title since Mark Occhilupo in 1999, Fanning went on to claim the event by edging out countryman Kai Otton in the final.
The Gold Coaster has been ultra-consistent this year, reaching the semi-final in eight of the nine rounds.
He has finished third behind eight-time champion Slater in the title race for the past two seasons before finally trumping the American master this time around.
Fanning has been at the front of the pack since his rookie year in 2002, only missing a top-five finish on one occasion.
That was in 2004 when he missed most of the year due to severe hamstring injury from a freak wipeout in Indonesia that almost brought a premature end to his career.
He completely tore the hamstring and tendons from his bone and was left with a softball sized lump of muscle below his backside.
He endured an eight-hour boat trip and three-day journey without painkillers - and even had to bribe Indonesian immigration - just to get home.
The final event on the world tour is the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii from December 8-20.
Media Man Australia Profile
Surfing
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Surfing Poseidon's Peaks, By Kati Turcu - The Epoch Times
Surfing Poseidon't Peaks (Credit: The Epoch Times)
Describing a good wave or the feeling of surfing it isn't easy. Not before long one finds oneself in superlative wipeout, much like the surfers who attempt it only to fail.
Luckily surfing is not about words. There are those who do and those who watch.
Though the thrill of riding a wave can hardly be described, at least it can be documented in film.
To this end, the Australian Surf Movie Festival (ASMF) is in its sixth year and presents the best opportunity for fans to see spectacular footage from around the world.
Film and Event Director Tim Bonython has been shooting surfing footage since 1978 and understands what makes a good surfing film.
He explains: "It's easy to shoot good surfing as long as you got a good surfer in good waves, but what we'd like to have in relation to the festival is a good story. We transport people to amazing locations and, in most cases the location is scarier than just guys having fun in waves."
One of the features of the festival called Down the Barrel documents the lives of four talented surfers: Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Kalani Robb and Australia's Joel Parkinson. It won The Best Cinematography in this year's Surfer Poll and Video Awards in the US run last month for its underwater barrel shots and masterful jet-ski angles from exotic destinations such as Teahupo'o in Tahiti.
Mr Bonython explains further: "In a festival we want to chop and change and keep people totally entertained from the start to the end. So we start with something exciting and then we pull it back and go on a bit of a profile of a person's career and then we come back and do something exciting.
Then there's the kind of excitement that is best left for viewing."
Filmmaker Brook Sylvester, captures Mark Mathews catching the heaviest wave ever surfed in Australia at the most feared break nicknamed Cyclops. "Surfing this wave is really dicing with death," says Mr Bonython "It's very very thick and it contorts; a beautiful wave but it's deadly."
Sydney's fearless big wave surfer Mark Mathews, whose objective is to surf the biggest and heaviest waves on the planet is also in Three Days at OURS.Shot at Sydney's Cape Solander outside Botany Bay in April 2007, Mathews and the "Bra Boy crew" – Ritchie Vaculik, Evan Faulks, Koby Abberton – and Bronte surfers Kobi Graham and John Dwyer tackle some of the most spectacular barrels ever surfed in Sydney or anywhere else on the planet.
Mr Bonython says: "I promise you that when viewing this footage, which is our finale you will be blown away by the intensity of the action. This is one serious wave, where really only the gutsiest surfers on the planet could take it on."
But Mr Bonython's excitement also masks considerable frustration at seeing Australian filmmakers battling it out financially while surf magazines have been giving away mediocre free DVDs as part of their marketing strategy. The situation makes it difficult for independent producers to make something out of genuinely good films.
He tells The Epoch Times: "there haven't been any good surf-DVD's release in this country for a while now."
The films in the festival are shown exclusively and will only be released next year with tracks as a DVD package.
Alhough the ASMF documents the near impossible feats of the big names in surfing, not all of the films shown focus on the stars. "It's good to have a film where it's not just full of surf stars. It's actually just got your Jo normals out there having a good fun time and in that film it's not life threatening waves, just beautiful endless perfection. When a wave is that good, really the wave is the star," Mr Bonython says.
Sounds like the audience will definitely be stoked.
The Australian Surf Movie Festival premieres at the North Bondi RSL on October 31, 2007 at 8pm and will tour nationally for three weeks, travelling to 22 venues until November 25.
See www.asmf.net.au for a list of venues, dates and ticket purchase information.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Australian Surf Movie Festival
Surfing
Describing a good wave or the feeling of surfing it isn't easy. Not before long one finds oneself in superlative wipeout, much like the surfers who attempt it only to fail.
Luckily surfing is not about words. There are those who do and those who watch.
Though the thrill of riding a wave can hardly be described, at least it can be documented in film.
To this end, the Australian Surf Movie Festival (ASMF) is in its sixth year and presents the best opportunity for fans to see spectacular footage from around the world.
Film and Event Director Tim Bonython has been shooting surfing footage since 1978 and understands what makes a good surfing film.
He explains: "It's easy to shoot good surfing as long as you got a good surfer in good waves, but what we'd like to have in relation to the festival is a good story. We transport people to amazing locations and, in most cases the location is scarier than just guys having fun in waves."
One of the features of the festival called Down the Barrel documents the lives of four talented surfers: Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Kalani Robb and Australia's Joel Parkinson. It won The Best Cinematography in this year's Surfer Poll and Video Awards in the US run last month for its underwater barrel shots and masterful jet-ski angles from exotic destinations such as Teahupo'o in Tahiti.
Mr Bonython explains further: "In a festival we want to chop and change and keep people totally entertained from the start to the end. So we start with something exciting and then we pull it back and go on a bit of a profile of a person's career and then we come back and do something exciting.
Then there's the kind of excitement that is best left for viewing."
Filmmaker Brook Sylvester, captures Mark Mathews catching the heaviest wave ever surfed in Australia at the most feared break nicknamed Cyclops. "Surfing this wave is really dicing with death," says Mr Bonython "It's very very thick and it contorts; a beautiful wave but it's deadly."
Sydney's fearless big wave surfer Mark Mathews, whose objective is to surf the biggest and heaviest waves on the planet is also in Three Days at OURS.Shot at Sydney's Cape Solander outside Botany Bay in April 2007, Mathews and the "Bra Boy crew" – Ritchie Vaculik, Evan Faulks, Koby Abberton – and Bronte surfers Kobi Graham and John Dwyer tackle some of the most spectacular barrels ever surfed in Sydney or anywhere else on the planet.
Mr Bonython says: "I promise you that when viewing this footage, which is our finale you will be blown away by the intensity of the action. This is one serious wave, where really only the gutsiest surfers on the planet could take it on."
But Mr Bonython's excitement also masks considerable frustration at seeing Australian filmmakers battling it out financially while surf magazines have been giving away mediocre free DVDs as part of their marketing strategy. The situation makes it difficult for independent producers to make something out of genuinely good films.
He tells The Epoch Times: "there haven't been any good surf-DVD's release in this country for a while now."
The films in the festival are shown exclusively and will only be released next year with tracks as a DVD package.
Alhough the ASMF documents the near impossible feats of the big names in surfing, not all of the films shown focus on the stars. "It's good to have a film where it's not just full of surf stars. It's actually just got your Jo normals out there having a good fun time and in that film it's not life threatening waves, just beautiful endless perfection. When a wave is that good, really the wave is the star," Mr Bonython says.
Sounds like the audience will definitely be stoked.
The Australian Surf Movie Festival premieres at the North Bondi RSL on October 31, 2007 at 8pm and will tour nationally for three weeks, travelling to 22 venues until November 25.
See www.asmf.net.au for a list of venues, dates and ticket purchase information.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Australian Surf Movie Festival
Surfing
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