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The Story
Mick Eugene Fanning was born in the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith in 1981, but has called the north coast of NSW home since his family relocated him there as a youngster.
Following his older brothers into the surf, Mick improved his water skills quickly in the wave mecca of Australia's Gold Coast.
Mick developed his surfing amongst a hotbed of talent, taking over the punchy beach breaks of D'bah and the grinding world class points of Kirra and Burleigh. He was turning into an all-round class act and evolved into one of Australia's "future surfing stars".
Fanning forged a close bond with fellow teenage stars Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison and the infamous 'Cooly Kids' crew eventually pushed their way onto the world stage.
In 1999 Mick made some marks on the contest scene that set him apart from other juniors chasing glory. Seven skins in a row at the money-rich Konica Super Skins event at Sandon Point netted him $21,000 and proved he could mix it with the world's elite after beating Occy, Luke Egan, Beau Emerton, Dooma Hardman and Davo along the way. He then claimed the prestigious HB/OE Pro Junior title at Narrabeen and followed it with a win the next week at the Jetty Surf Pro Junior at Bells Beach.
In 2001 Mick was given a wildcard entry into the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach - a ticket straight to the main stage of international surfing. Mick lived up to the hype and won the contest in emphatic fashion, dedicating the victory to his deceased brother, Sean. He also won the ASP WQS Title that year.
2002 was Fanning's first year on the ASP World Championship Tour and the 21-year-old won the Billabong Pro in South Africa on his way to finishing 5th overall on the ratings. This result is the highest ranking achieved by a WCT rookie since Kelly Slater won the World Title in his 1992 debut season.
2003 was another awesome year for Mick and he was a contender for the WCT Title right until the second last event of the season. Mick ended up finishing fourth overall on the Top 45 ratings behind Andy Irons, Slater and Taj Burrow.
A lot of people expected 2004 to be Mick's World Title year and the season was set to be a huge one, but a horrific freesurfing mishap on a Search trip mid-year put him out of action for five months with a heavy hamstring tear. Some feared he'd never surf at his top level ever again.
Mick made his way into the water in December and after flying to Hawaii to attend WCT Meetings and watch the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters, Mick was awarded a Tour wildcard by his peers for re-entry into the 2005 WCT.
Undergoing vigorous rehab training, Mick got himself fit and ready for the 2005 season. His comeback event would be Stop 1 of the season - the Quiksilver Pro at Mick's home break of Snapper Rocks in Australia.
Matching Rip Curl teammate Steph Gilmore's remarkable title win in the Women's WCT at Snapper Rocks that week, Mick proved to the world that he was well and truly back by smashing the field and starting the year in first place on the WCT rankings.
He kept himself in the World Top 3 by winning the inaugural Rip Curl Pro Search WCT in Reunion Island and finishing runner-up to AI at the season's final event, the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters.
Mick headed into 2006 with a lot of confidence, but wasn't able to replicate the start he had in 05 and instead was forced to turn his average season into a huge year at the half-way point of the season. As a past champion of the Billabong Pro at Jeffrey's Bay, Mick was always a favourite to challenge for the title in 06. He nailed the task. On the back of that huge win, he took the momentum into every event that followed, including a 2nd place finish at the Quiksilver Pro in France and 1st at the Santa Caterina Pro in Brazil, and fought his way to #3 in the world again.
While most of the surfing world wondered if Kelly Slater was going to compete the entire 2007 season, many put pressure on Mick by announcing that this would be his year and that Australia would finally see the World Champion trophy again. Fanning rose to the challenge, winning the opening event of the year, placing 3rd at Bells, 2nd at Teahupoo, 3rd in Chile, 3rd at J-Bay, 1st in France, 3rd in Spain and finally claimed his maiden World Title in Brazil.
Congratulations Mick - bring on 2008!
VITALS
DOB: June 13, 1981
Place of birth: Penrith, NSW, Australia
Lives: Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia
Nickname: Eugene
Stance: Natural
Main Shaper: Darren Handley - DHD Surfboards
Training Program: Fitness and strength training, surfing as much as possible
Favourite waves: Snapper, Kirra, Teahupoo
Favourite surfing: Barrel riding