Surfing: Lightning strikes back

Mick Fanning ponders his next outing on the surf - where (main picture at Hosseger in France) it's clear he's a master. Karen Wilson / Getty Images

To see Mick Fanning spring up the stairs at an Auckland hotel, let alone pulling off improbable moves on the world's most powerful waves, it's hard to believe a crippling leg injury threatened to end his career.

In the last half of 2004 Fanning's hamstring was torn from the bone when he slipped pulling off a regulation floater on a routine wave in Indonesia. After having a titanium hook inserted to reattach tendons to the bone, the Aussie was immobile for three months and had to learn how to walk again, then get back on a board.

In a stunning recovery, he won his first comeback world championship event early last year and maintained his form to finish third on the tour. Nicknamed "White Lightning" for his zipper-fast approach to shredding waves, Fanning, 25, has kept pace with the leading pack, running fifth with two events to go. The peerless Kelly Slater clinched the 2006 title in Mundaka, Spain, last weekend but Fanning is working hard to knock him off his perch.

When did you start surfing?

When I was 5, living in Coffs Harbour but then we moved back to West Sydney and were there for a few years. When I was about 8 or 9 we moved to Ballina [in northern New South Wales]. That's when I started surfing a lot more and finally moved to the Gold Coast when I was 12.

What's your favourite wave on the Gold Coast?

Snapper Rocks or Kirra - when it breaks.

What got you started?

My three older brothers surfed. Being the youngest, you look up to your brothers and keep following them.

When did you start figuring that you were good?

When I was about 16 or 17. I got a really good contract offer from RipCurl, quit school and kept surfing.

How were you going at school?

I was pretty good at school but missed too much from doing trips and that. One day I was told I was going to have to come every single day for the rest of the year, so I just asked my parents about leaving and they were fine about it.

Were your parents into surfing?

Not at all. They moved from Ireland and England when they were 19 - my Dad's only worn board shorts once.

How long have you been at the top competitive level?

I've been on the World Championship Tour [WCT] since 2002. My best year was last year when I came third.

What's the tour like as a job/lifestyle?

It's great fun. Dealing with airports and rental cars gets difficult at times but when you get to a place and catch up with old friends or get to surf your favourite waves it's amazing.

What are your favourite WCT events?

I love surfing back home on the Gold Coast, Bells Beach [near Melbourne] and Jeffery's Bay in South Africa [he's won there twice]. It's like home or here.

What's the added pressure like when you're at home?

You see all your friends and instead of three or four people supporting you you've got 54. They all want to wish you luck so you've just got to distance yourself a bit otherwise you get too excited.

What are the more difficult events elsewhere?

Europe's pretty hard because it's so far away and you've got the language barrier but after you've been there a few years you know where to eat, it runs like clockwork. Brazil is pretty crazy - it's the most difficult because there's so many people and they've all got so much energy. It's a radical vibe on the beach. You get local wildcards and you think to yourself whether you should actually beat him.

What are your favourite waves?

Pipeline and Off the Wall in Hawaii. They're amazing. And Teahupoo in Tahiti [a much-photographed deadly left-hand peeling reef-break with thick, bone-smashing barrels accessible only via a vertical take-off].

What's going through your head when you're taking off on one of those?

A lot - you have to decide if there's a way out. It gets really scary at times but it's great fun. You can end up with a few scars.

Who are your mates on tour?

I went to school with Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison, we've been mates for years. There's also Nathan (the Hog) Hedge.What's it like surfing against Joel Parkinson?We've been competing against each other since we were 12 or 13. You're not mates out in the water - you don't say a word to each other.

What about the other guys on tour - how intense does it get?

Everyone is a pretty good sport but you make sure what happens out in the water stays there.

What makes eight-time world champion Kelly Slater tick?

I don't know for sure - I'm trying to find out. I think's it's just his will to win, he's just such a driven individual. He keeps himself secluded. It's hard for me to be on the beach - he just gets mobbed.

How's 2006 been for you?

The first half was pretty slow but in the last four events I've done pretty well. I've re-evaluated - I went out and had a lot more fun, I was taking it a bit too seriously at the beginning. I've been trying to do a few different things on waves but you've only got a few days between events.

What happened when you wrecked your hamstring?

I just thought it was a normal tear. I was six months out of the water. I couldn't even sit in a normal seat for six weeks. There's a little titanium hook drilled into the bone and then attached to the tendon. It's super-strong now, I've got full flex and it doesn't bother me at all.

Was the break good for you?

I was in a bit of a rut. Everything just happened so fast from when I was 17. Everything was crazy. Having that break sparked me up again.

Any other interests?

I love watching footy - I go for Penrith but now the Gold Coast Titans are there I'll have to go for them. I try to go snowboarding over Christmas, I'm off to the States this year.

Any plans when you quit surfing?

I haven't given it a lot of thought. I'm just putting my money into investments. I just got engaged [on Wednesday] to Karissa [Dalton]. I proposed to her up the top of Kirra Hill. I was pretty nervous about it - I hadn't slept for two days. I'd flown back from Spain and only had a day at home before coming out here.

Have you been to New Zealand before?

Only for a night. I've had an uncle and aunt living here and some cousins around the place but I've never made it over to surf before.

And what about Eugene?

He gets a run every now and then - it's just one of those things. My mates, when we were younger, said, "You really change when you drink" and came up with that name - it's stuck ever since. I try to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble.

* Fanning, Joel Parkinson with Hawaiians Andy and Bruce Irons are up against New Zealand's Daniel Kereopa, Bobby Hansen and Maz and Jay Quin at Piha tomorrow. They'll also be signing autographs at the Vodafone Retail Outlet on Queen St today at 12.30pm.