It’s hopelessly sad to reminisce about the past and lament fallen heroes, former girlfriends that slipped through, or missed opportunities. Surfing, however, lives in a zone that is often intersected by our past. New board designs are compared to old, a fresh surfing style, we are told, resembles MP in his prime, and a new Russian discovery yields a wave like ‘Kirra from years ago.’
I was browsing some old mags the other day, tinkling the ice around in a chilled glass of chardonnay and musing of the past and of past heroes.
We all have surfing heroes, and we all have these champions for different reasons. Maybe it’s because of surfing the biggest wave in the world back in the day like Greg Knoll, maybe it’s because a surfer elevated his or herself out of her station in life like Lisa Anderson, maybe because it’s for an incredible single wave, a sleek black pin-lined board or maybe it’s just because of numerous past world titles like Slater and Mark Richards. Whatever blows our hair back.
My heroes are the animals. The surfers who suddenly decided that a world title is for them, and then went out and attained a title in such an emphatic manner as to almost cast a shadow over the system of the sport.
Sometime in early 1989, WSL commentator Martin Potter woke up; decided enough was enough, and went out to win a world title as easily as a walk to the shops. He won four out of the first five events of the year, and after a little mid-year wobble, picked up a few more wins and good results to win with by the hugest of margins, leaving everyone else on the tour looking a little silly with their feeble attempts to catch up. It was the winningist streak in the sport’s history and his total dedication and ferocity in and out the water saw him added to that glorious world champ list.
Martin Potteraahhhh!!! Photo: WSL
The following year, after semi-retirement, two times world champion Tom Curren took the world title with a similar streak, but the only difference was that he surfed through the trials to get his title (the only record Slater can never break) and surfing more heats in a year than any other surfer.
Occy’s comeback world title was another one with grunt. Endless hours doing push-ups and road running saw him regain the shape of his glory years, and a hard-fought battle paved the way for his 1999 world title.
Slater’s five straight titles from 1994 to 1998 was the kind of run that may never be equaled. Along the way he shattered every record, and his peers and competitors knew sometimes as early as the third event of the year, that he had his eye in and that there was no way to get close to him. It was almost as if the whole tour evaluated the man and his mission, realised that the chase was fruitless, and gave up and watched him get better and better as they downgraded their careers into a second-tier race for the runner-up position.
It has been a while since we have seen a beast on the pro tour, someone who completely breaks the mold. Sometimes Jordy starts showing animalistic behaviour, and then he gets injured or gets beaten by tactics. John-John sometimes looks like the best surfer in the world, and then gets easily out-surfed by a rookie. Slater has mellowed too much, no longer has that desperate drive, and Mick Fanning, possibly the most driven surfer in the world, has gone on holiday.
Enter Matt Wilkinson. After two early event wins he is about to go down one of two roads. On the right is the animalistic road of absolutely driven surfing performances that will see him to a world title and all the accolades that follow such a situation. On the left is the flash-in-the-pan road, where his two victories will be soon forgotten, and he will once again slip into those comfortable quarterfinal doldrums, the realm he can reach easily while relying on talent alone and without bothering to figure out the rest of the game.
Wilko embraces his inner animal. Photo: WSL/Sloane
We’d like nothing better than for us to see another animal out there on the tour, to see a surfer blow the WSL’s pro surfing paradigm out of the water, and to reset the comfortable, judge-friendly level of surfing that we’re watching on the tour at the moment. Matty loves the Rio event. It suits his snappy approach, and his backhand hacks last year were a feast for power-lovers everywhere. He slayed his way to a semi-final last year and a win this year as well as the world title is well within his grasp.
It all depends on which road he chooses in round 2.
Right or Left?
