The best second half surfer in history is hot at the right time again. But can he repeat in 2014?
Mick Fanning
has won three world titles. Equal with Andy Irons and trailing only
Mark Richards and Kelly Slater on the all-time standings. It is a
remarkable achievement from the Coolangatta Kid who won Rookie Of The
Year but seemed too much of a goodtime guy to be a genuine sustained
threat to the top of the tree. Then came a horrific accident in the
Mentawai Islands in 2004. Mick tore his hamstring from the bone and
limped a long and arduous road to recovery.
Where most would fall, Fanning finally found his focus. Injured as a surfer, Mick came back an athlete; a fit and dedicated terminator who would stop at nothing to achieve success. His strength is everyone else’s weakness. In the second half of the year when injuries, fatigue and mind games come in to play, Fanning hits overdrive. His opponents can’t afford to falter. When the going gets tough, Mick gets going.
Witness the Mickness© Ryan Miller
Where most would fall, Fanning finally found his focus. Injured as a surfer, Mick came back an athlete; a fit and dedicated terminator who would stop at nothing to achieve success. His strength is everyone else’s weakness. In the second half of the year when injuries, fatigue and mind games come in to play, Fanning hits overdrive. His opponents can’t afford to falter. When the going gets tough, Mick gets going.
Witness the Mickness© Ryan Miller
In the year of Fanning’s first world
title, 2007, everything ran according to regular programming. A mighty
off-season in the gym and a win at season-opening Snapper – a feature of
Mark Occhilupo’s 1999 crown, Slater’s 2006, 2008 and 2011 titles and,
pending Pipeline this year, Gabriel Medina’s 2014 campaign – were
followed by a strong result in the Pacific (second at Teahupo’o), before
the afterburners came on in Europe to claim France and place one hand
on the trophy. Throw in four more semi-final finishes along the way and
the crown was clinched on an obscure beach in Brazil, with another win
for good measure. Fanning flew home in a daze, partied like a rock star
on the Gold Coast and enjoyed a victory lap of the North Shore season as
world champ-elect. It was a clinical shutout, but if Mick thought his
first title was hard he had no idea of what was to come.
Surfing’s most storied event is the Pipeline Masters. Becoming a Pipe Master is a mean enough feat in itself, to win world titles on the most famous patch of reef in Hawaii is the stuff of folklore. In recent history Andy Irons claimed his first two titles in such a fashion, before sealing his hat-trick in Brazil. Of Kelly Slater’s 11 crowns only three have been clinched at Pipeline, though his 94 Pipe/title double was in a year that Pipe was not the final contest for the year. Derek Ho’s 1993 title was won at Pipeline, fitting as it was Hawaii’s first crown, but generally the title race is a foregone conclusion by the time the tour leaves Europe at the end of the northern summer. Over the years, Spain, Portugal and Brazil have seen more impromptu title presentations than any of surfing’s more traditional locales.
Enter Fanning. Since 2009 Mick has made the back half of the circuit his own. In that year we saw Joel Parkinson take the tried and tested route to title town, starting with wins at Snapper and Bells to separate from the pack, then strangling the field with a victory at J-Bay to be streeting the field at the turn. After Joel hoisted the South African trophy Mick all but conceded the crown, then tragedy struck Parkinson. A stock standard air reverse in Bali went wrong and the resulting high ankle sprain threw Parko’s year into disarray.
Some might see Fanning’s willingness to capitalise on his mate’s misfortune as ruthless, and maybe initially Mick thought the title was too far out of reach to worry about, but what is not up for debate is how hot he got in a hurry. Mick found his form at the next WQS event, the US Open, and carried it into the Hurley Pro, beating Dane Reynolds in the final. With a slight sniff of the year-end champagne, Mick throttled the European leg claiming both the Quiksilver Pro in France and the Rip Curl Pro Search in Portugal.
Mick Fanning slicing and dicing at Backdoor© Ryan Miller
Surfing’s most storied event is the Pipeline Masters. Becoming a Pipe Master is a mean enough feat in itself, to win world titles on the most famous patch of reef in Hawaii is the stuff of folklore. In recent history Andy Irons claimed his first two titles in such a fashion, before sealing his hat-trick in Brazil. Of Kelly Slater’s 11 crowns only three have been clinched at Pipeline, though his 94 Pipe/title double was in a year that Pipe was not the final contest for the year. Derek Ho’s 1993 title was won at Pipeline, fitting as it was Hawaii’s first crown, but generally the title race is a foregone conclusion by the time the tour leaves Europe at the end of the northern summer. Over the years, Spain, Portugal and Brazil have seen more impromptu title presentations than any of surfing’s more traditional locales.
Enter Fanning. Since 2009 Mick has made the back half of the circuit his own. In that year we saw Joel Parkinson take the tried and tested route to title town, starting with wins at Snapper and Bells to separate from the pack, then strangling the field with a victory at J-Bay to be streeting the field at the turn. After Joel hoisted the South African trophy Mick all but conceded the crown, then tragedy struck Parkinson. A stock standard air reverse in Bali went wrong and the resulting high ankle sprain threw Parko’s year into disarray.
Some might see Fanning’s willingness to capitalise on his mate’s misfortune as ruthless, and maybe initially Mick thought the title was too far out of reach to worry about, but what is not up for debate is how hot he got in a hurry. Mick found his form at the next WQS event, the US Open, and carried it into the Hurley Pro, beating Dane Reynolds in the final. With a slight sniff of the year-end champagne, Mick throttled the European leg claiming both the Quiksilver Pro in France and the Rip Curl Pro Search in Portugal.
Mick Fanning slicing and dicing at Backdoor© Ryan Miller
Suddenly it all came down to Pipe, and as
Parkinson desperately rehabbed his injury and battled waning
confidence, Fanning came in flaming. The title race ended quickly, and
thankfully Parkinson’s 2012 title (also won at Pipe) would eventually
ease the agony of Mick’s clinical execution of his dreams on the North
Shore three years earlier.
In 2010 and 2011, Kelly claimed back-to-back titles at the Search events in Puerto Rico and San Francisco, before last year Mick again timed his run to perfection. While Kelly won two of the first four contests, Fanning never finished out of the quarters through the first six to plant himself firmly in the mix at the bend. Suddenly he had no throwaways, little to lose, and Kelly was struggling at his pet event of Trestles.
Again Mick pounced in France, claiming his only win for the year before logging another quarter-final finish in Portugal as Kelly got the yips and bowed out in straight sets to a pair of wildcards in an unprecedented display from the greatest of all time.
The rest is history. Mick needed to make four waves on the final day at Pipeline to claim the crown and he did just that, eliminating CJ Hobgood with a buzzer beating 9.50, then repeating the dose in the quarters, again on the buzzer, with a 9.70 against Yadin Nicol.
In 2010 and 2011, Kelly claimed back-to-back titles at the Search events in Puerto Rico and San Francisco, before last year Mick again timed his run to perfection. While Kelly won two of the first four contests, Fanning never finished out of the quarters through the first six to plant himself firmly in the mix at the bend. Suddenly he had no throwaways, little to lose, and Kelly was struggling at his pet event of Trestles.
Again Mick pounced in France, claiming his only win for the year before logging another quarter-final finish in Portugal as Kelly got the yips and bowed out in straight sets to a pair of wildcards in an unprecedented display from the greatest of all time.
The rest is history. Mick needed to make four waves on the final day at Pipeline to claim the crown and he did just that, eliminating CJ Hobgood with a buzzer beating 9.50, then repeating the dose in the quarters, again on the buzzer, with a 9.70 against Yadin Nicol.
Mick Fanning is truly an iceman in the
clutch, and in a month’s time he’ll be aiming for world title number
four. As per his last brace of titles he again won in Europe this year,
victorious in Portugal. Again we have seen his rivals, this time Kelly
and Gabriel, stumble under pressure. It is Medina’s title to lose, but
his iron will has seen its first chinks appear as the endless chatter of
the chase of the championship starts to play on his mind.
If last year’s results repeat (Kelly win, Mick semis, Gabriel 13th) then Kelly is world champ. If Mick makes the semis, Kelly doesn’t win, and Gabriel repeats his 13th, the title goes back to Coolangatta. The rest of the scenarios favour Medina, and rightly so, but the biggest tease of the lot is if Kelly falls out of the equation, Mick makes the quarters, and Gabriel finishes 13th. Then we’re looking at a surf off! An actual heat, man-on-man, with a title for the victor. Tell me you wouldn’t bet the farm on MF4?
If last year’s results repeat (Kelly win, Mick semis, Gabriel 13th) then Kelly is world champ. If Mick makes the semis, Kelly doesn’t win, and Gabriel repeats his 13th, the title goes back to Coolangatta. The rest of the scenarios favour Medina, and rightly so, but the biggest tease of the lot is if Kelly falls out of the equation, Mick makes the quarters, and Gabriel finishes 13th. Then we’re looking at a surf off! An actual heat, man-on-man, with a title for the victor. Tell me you wouldn’t bet the farm on MF4?
