Ten years ago, he was a little known teenage surfie from Queensland. Today, the name Mick Fanning pulls up more than 440,000 results in the Internet search engine, Google, and over one million results in Yahoo.
Fanning signed with Rip Curl when he was 16 years-old and hasn't looked back. Now, at the ripe old age of 27, he has a swag of titles behind him, most impressively the 2007 ASP World Title, making him the first Australian World Champion since Mark Occilupo in 1999.ASP WORLD TOUR
In 2008, Fanning is fighting to defend his title during the ASP World Tour. He carved his way into second place at the first event, the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, behind Kelly Slater. Next stop was the Rip Curl Pro at Bell's Beach in March, an event which has special significance for Fanning since he won it as a wildcard in 1991. Unfortunately, luck was against him this time and Fanning was forced to surf the sudden-death round for the first time in 15 events, against Adrian Buchan (AUS) and wildcard Stuart Kennedy (AUS). Fighting to the death, Fanning managed to eliminate Kennedy in the Round 2 rematch. "It's good to get through that heat and live to fight another day," said Fanning.
After bowing out of the Billabong Pro Tahiti event on 13 May, Fanning has his work cut out for the remainder of the ASP World Tour. The good news is, there's still eight events left in the Tour. Fanning's experience and fighting spirit will stand him in good stead to retain his World Champion title.
Mick Fanning surfs Hawaii
