Red Bull Australia

At 21 and with a win over Kelly Slater already under his belt, the surfing world is young gun Julian Wilson’s oyster.
The gifted Queenslander has already got loyal sponsors, including Red Bull, movie deals and, most importantly, the moves on the board that many believe will take this successful junior right to the top of his sport.

It’s as if he was born to surf and the truth is he just about was, with surfing mad parents who live just across the road from Coolum Beach.
“I would have been about three,” he said of his first attempt at surfing.
“Pretty much as soon as I got out of a nappy. My mum and dad used to push me into the waves and I have loved it since the first day I tried it.”

Initially, it was all about the love of surfing, but as time went and he continued to improve, it soon became something bigger and he started competing.
“It was just fun, it was what all my mates were doing so I did it too,” he said.
“But I was getting results along the way, I rode long board and short board and won an Aussie title on long board. I won regional and state titles and stuff like that on the short board. I love free surfing as well, but I have that competitive drive.”
With a junior world title to his credit in 2006 and wins in the Brothers Neilsen Pro Junior, O’Neill Mission in France and, most recently, a win at the ASP 6-Star Sri Lankan Airlines Pro in Argum Bay, he’s well on the way to living his dream.

“I want to be world champ, along with a lot of other people,” he said with a laugh.
“I’ll take it as it comes right now and figure out what I need to do to be the best and make the most of what talent I’ve got.”