Saturday 11 February marks the birthday of two surfing greats, Kelly Slater and Jordy Smith. To celebrate, SIMON NICHOLSON takes a bird’s eye view of where Jordy Smith has come from, where he is at right now, and what lies ahead. Read on as we salute our homegrown champion.
As South Africans, we love to hate.
Don’t ask me why, we all do it, and it’s not often we get a real kick out of seeing our fellow countrymen succeed. When they do, well then, that’s what we expected, isn’t it? Cynical pessimists.
So I’ll be the first to admit that I was a late-comer to the Jordy Smith fan club. Not that I didn’t like the kid - he was always quiet, really polite, friendly and respectful - unlike some of the punks he grew up around. I just never saw him do anything that blew me away, really. Typical SA syndrome. Through the early years of his career he was really small and I never took much notice, but while I was away on tour he started growing, started winning, and still I didn’t take much notice.
Then Jordy Smith started getting big results. I never really saw the surfing that was responsible for the victories, but the events he was winning spoke volumes: Aussie Pro Juniors, World Junior Champs, World Amateur Champs, the victories were coming thick and fast. But I hadn’t witnessed the phenomenon first hand, and so I did not believe.
It was an autumn morning down at the piers in Durban when all that changed. It was in 2007 during the Quiksilver Pro at New Pier. I had one of those VIP passes and I was eating more than my share of the snacks, waiting for the first quarterfinal: Jordy vs Neco Padaratz. Now you have to understand that Neco is one of the most intimidating competitors in pro surfing history. The guy literally looks like an escaped convict on the run. He growls and snarls, and trips on acid for fun during events. Meet him in full swing and he comes across as nothing short of psychotic. He also opens with a pair of 8.5’s before Jordy even catches a wave. I’m gutted. Jordy is combo’d. Oh well, my world is still the same, Davey is up next… maybe he can go all the way.
Even as a 10 year-old grom, Jordy's talent was evident.
I hardly notice Jordy paddling for a set. He is 19 years-old, it’s a solid wave, and Jordy is going to teach me a lesson I will never forget. As the lip feathers he climbs to his feet, double pumps off the bottom and launches into the biggest front side air I’d ever seen in my life up to that point, let alone in a competition, and lands clean on the face. He destroys the rest of the wave. 10-Point ride! It’s the first time I actually see the future of surfing. He backs it up with an easy 9.4, and now the old guard is combo’d and irrelevant. Nothing in Neco’s arsenal can compare, the heat is over before it is over. My world had changed.
“I have always been the class clown, trying to impress everyone. I guess I am a showman at heart” laughs Jordy when I ask him about his ability to pull out the stops when it counts the most. “In heats I will always be super amped up by the crowd. And once I have got two scores on the board, I really see value in that, entertaining people.”
And entertain he does. The best of the best have something special that defines them: Fanning’s speed , Parko’s style, Taj’s airs, Andy’s unpredictable greatness. But for the first time since Slater, Jordy brings numerous qualities to the table. He is defined by multiple traits – air guy, power surfer, style-master - and to polish it all off, he possess that rare ability to rise to the occasion when it counts most. In the world of competitive sports, this is the trait that has defined legends.
The rodeo that had the world wide web buzzing.
Initially I feared his backhand was a potential weakness - as is the case with many South African natural footers spoilt in the land of the right point. I worried this was something that could be exploited by his rivals during World Tour events in lefthanders. That fear quickly evaporated when The Modern Collective exposed Jordy’s ability to bring the same futuristic approach to backside surfing. Is his backside superman a first ever? Probably. Jordy is bringing that to the tour, and changing the judging criteria in the process.
“I thought that was underscored, nobody’s ever done that in a heat before, even a free surf” he ponders as he thinks back to the Search Final of 2010 against Slater. “It’s never going to be perfect, but still the judges are scoring a lot better, they’re probably getting a little carried away with the slob air right now, it’s the flavor at the moment, (but) I think it’s hard, we are just kinda inventing some of these turns ourselves, so it will take time before the judges know what’s hard versus what’s easy.”
Even Slater is taking notes from ‘Generation Jordy’ for his aerial approach. He is one of the few of the old guard who is keeping up, and his full rotation in New York against Taj during the Quiksilver Pro is a best ever for him. Jordy doesn’t miss a beat either as his tweet went “@kellyslater guess you can teach an old dog new tricks…” A compliment with a little twist of the knife, but Jordy’s the first to claim, “He surfed really good in that event”
We invariably talk about the Slater phenomenon, a guy that Jordy’s worshipped as a grom, but is now challenging for world titles. Surely that has an effect on him?
“At first it was weird, I almost felt like getting his autograph after each heat, but now its like, fuck this guy, I don’t give a fuck how many world titles he has, I just want to smash him! I have built up a wall, like a defense, where I just focus on myself. I don’t hate him or anything like that, I just want to beat him.”
“I genuinely want him to stay on tour; he still has so much to offer” he adds, acutely aware of the fact that Slater is the ultimate measure of surfing greatness, and equally so to beat him. “I think he is the greatest athlete of all time, surfing wouldn’t be where it is without him, and we owe him big thanks for that.”
The perennial surf stokie.
If you have seen Jordy, then you have seen G-Force, his dad, and you have probably seen his mom Lu and you’ve definitely noticed his hot sister, Casey. It’s a tight family unit, and there is plenty of public affection. Jordy shows a genuine appreciation for the support his folks have shown him through this early part of his career. He shares his wins with them as if they were an equal part of the success.
“Family are there for you through thick and thin. I owe everything to my folks, they have been there for me every step of the way. I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for them.”
Lu elaborates, “We always insisted on respect for others, no matter how young or old, respect demands respect. Laying a grounding of good basic morals and values pays off… I think if kids have a good grounding, then they always carry these out later in life. Both G and I have large families, and the interaction with young and old, it gave Jordy a good family value system. He is also somewhat of a spiritual thinker, and so morals and values are high up on his list - which includes respect and honour.”
There were key decisions that played a big role in his grounding. Lu, being a schoolteacher, knew the importance of Jordy attending school, and just leading a normal down to earth childhood. “I made sure that he had a balance, although Jordy kind of found his own balance, when he had to go to school, he went to school, did homework and then headed to the beach after.”
“Even though he did take a lot of time off school, he motivated himself, I guess with a little bit of a push here and there. He really wanted to complete his schooling like everyone else. He never used his talent as an excuse not to attend school, he even used to go to the boarding establishment at night to make sure he caught up with whatever he had missed.”
I get the feeling discipline has been there since the beginning; it’s a vital ingredient in the winning formula. Perhaps something Dane Reynolds missed out on, too evident now as he flip flops through events, unable to commit to the challenge, or buckling under the pressure - whichever way you see it. It makes all the difference in the end. Jordy will be immortalised in the record books, Dane, just another trend that passed.
Jordy has built a solid pit crew around him, his folks, his team manager Garth Tarlow, his filmer Blake Kueny, Graham, affectionately known by the boys and most of the world as G-Force. Graham entertains all the sponsor contracts and assists Jordy with schedules, working on new equipment. Jordy is taking on more of an independent stance regarding heats, and Lu does all Jordy’s planning as far as travel, flights, accommodation, visas, as well as looking after his property investments.
Jordy has a good team; they take care of the details so he can focus on the surfing. That kind of team also costs money, and Jordy has big money. His contract negotiations were the stuff of legend a few years back, with O’Neill winning the rights to market the phenomenon. And he has delivered in every department, short of the world title. But then again, Jordy is only about to turn 24 as you read this. There are many, many years ahead, and the man has his eyes fixed firmly on the prize.
So what’s a guy to do with all that cash?
“I’m not a big spender, I guess” Jordy offers, then laughs, “although I did just buy myself a house in Camps Bay!”
He may have just splashed out on a home and a new car, but the truth is he hasn’t gone rock star with his loot. His spending habits are far more sinister.
“I have a shoe fetish, it’s my only weakness,” he admits. “That, and spending on my friends, you know, buying drinks at a club, or dinner for the boys. I dig bringing a mate on tour every now and then too, but mainly I spend money on hotel rooms and business class upgrades when I can, ha!”
“I think it’s easier to be conservative with your money when you don’t come from a lot of money. I am saving you know, cash is king. I would like to open a restaurant or something someday, a place where my mates can hang out, be social, drink coffee. That would be cool.”
And now he is in love - with FHM’s Sexiest Woman in South Africa, Lyndal Jarvis, no less.
“I saw her at this horse racing event, (Craig) Kolesky told me I had no chance, I was like ‘Oh ja? Watch this…’ so keen to prove him wrong. I walked straight up to her and tried to ask her out and get her number, and she shut me down twice. I was gutted. Eventually I got her number from someone else and I sent her a text, and she didn’t reply for a few weeks, so I thought I had no chance. One night at a club she tapped me on the shoulder, I turned around and she kissed me… I was freaking out.” Jordy grins.
Back-to-back victories at J-Bay. Jordy does it for the home crowd.
Big money, supermodel girlfriend, big wins… Jordy’s meteoric rise to the top of world surfing has a similar aura to the early Slater years. In fact Jordy’s junior career was far more accomplished than Slater - an amateur world title and a junior world title before the WCT, and he won the WQS when he qualified.
The road to the big time for South African surfers is a rough one. Our previous world champs have all left for greener grass, our surfing infrastructure is miniscule in comparison to Australia and the USA, and even Brazil. No Rabbit coaching on Tuesday afternoon, no Barton Lynch training camps, or Munga Barry surf schools. Nevertheless, he has risen, and he has walked where no South African has walked before, straight into a world title battle with the king himself, seemingly at the height of Kelly’s career.
In the aftermath of the Jordy/Dane hysteria of the past two years, a clear picture has emerged. Dane, unwilling or unable to step up to the plate cannot make it onto the plane, let alone the podium. And then there’s Jordy, with two World Tour victories, four finals, and it seems as if he is only just finding his feet.
“Everyone has their opinion of the tour, and they are entitled to it,” states Jordy. “Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be a world champion, that’s my goal. There is nothing more that I want right now than to be a world champ.”
His tone is direct. Like I just put smelling salts under his nose, he sits up and gets serious. “Once a world champ, always a world champ”.
Jordy Smith wants immortality.
The discussion shifts to Dane’s strange behavior over the 2011 season. “Dane probably doesn’t see the value in it (the WCT) right now, he’s not winning events, so he feels like there is no point. From a media point of view he is getting left behind, and it’s true. If you are not winning events, you get left behind in the media side of things. He is more into his video sections. He is lucky he is a golden child, not anybody could quit the tour and get paid the same salary.”
It has been said that if you want to succeed, you need to want it as badly as you need air to breathe. Jordy’s hunger to win was never more apparent than at last year’s Billabong Pro in Tahiti.
Jordy doesn’t come from a background of heavy waves. Rather, his act was forged in the forgiving beach break runners of Durban’s piers, waves that have honed that ridiculous aerial rep. But six-foot high airs are a far cry from 12-foot Tahitian death pits over live coral, like they had at last year’s Billabong Pro Tahiti. Sitting deep on the Teahupo’o reef and stroking into a triple sucking west peak with minimal chance of escape, you have got to want that with all your heart, your soul, and more than life itself, in fact. That’s how hungry Jordy is. You can’t fake that. He not only wants the title, but he wants the respect of the world too. He wants the whole package.
But something goes wrong, the consequences of ambition cannot be ignored on this day. He meets Travis in round 3, and Travis wants something else - tired of being labeled a good small wave surfer, Trav finally has the chance to prove what the world tour has hidden for many years: Travis loves big waves.
Charging at Chopes before the rib injury.
Jordy explains “ The day before that heat was the big tow day. I wanted to tow one wave at least, I just wanted a photo that I could put on the wall at home and stare at. But everyone was telling me NO, just leave it. I could have borrowed Laurie Towner’s board, and I just wanted to have a go…”
“My manager and Kelly were just saying ‘don’t do it’. They were adamant not to let me go, and common sense prevailed.
“So the next morning it had dropped to ten feet and cleaned up, and I got some crackers early before the contest. I was fired up, and sitting in a good position for a world title run, so nothing was going to get in the way of that, no matter how heavy the waves were.”
“Before the heat started, Trav and I looked at each other and just smiled. He is so competitive. I knew he was going to go for it. But I am not one to lay down either, that shit fires me up, so we both started having a go.”
“After the heat was over, that’s when the real pain kicked in, my adrenaline was gone, and the pain was just heavy. When they called the re-surf, I should have just left it there and given Trav a walk through. I already felt like I had cheated death, but I didn’t realise how long term the injury was going to be. That second heat, I was crying in the lineup, I couldn’t lie down on my board”.
For me, as a spectator from my phone in the middle of OR Tambo International on a Sunday night, it was one of the proudest moments I have experienced as a South African - watching these two Dairy Beach kids go harder than anyone against each other in massive Teahupo’o.
I ask Jordy if it wasn’t for the injury, does he think he could have beaten Slater last year. “For sure!” he answers without hesitating. He believes it with every ounce of his being.
But Kelly uses situations like this to slingshot himself back into the race, like he wants to rub in the fact that the door has been left open. Jordy was left staring at his computer screen watching Slater and Wright go toe to toe in beach break ramps in New York, and then Trestles. Venues and waves that easily would have been two of Jordy’s strongest events. “It was the hardest point in my life, it was eating me alive watching those two events. I was dying inside!” he recalls.
Jordy has since added plenty more to this collection that is continually growing.
The three events Jordy misses, Slater makes the final. It’s as if he knows it’s his only chance to stop the big South African. Jordy returns before he is fully healed and goes straight to the podium with a third in France. It serves as notice for what might have been.
Jordy quickly directs me to the year ahead. “I am already frothing for the Gold Coast… This year it’s ON!”
“I tuned Slater, he better not quit after this last title, I want my title with him in the running. He is too good to quit now, and I wanna beat him”.
It’s classic Jordy big match temperament. No shortcuts.
A world title will be the authentic stamp on a potentially legendary career, if he can overcome Slater while his interest is still there. To defeat Slater in a genuine title battle is a mark of greatness that will forever be remembered.
But Jordy is not the next Kelly Slater in the same way nobody is ‘the next Jordy Smith’. The kids of today must be bold enough to surpass those who have shown the way, and believe in themselves enough to cut their own path. Right now, Jordy Smith is the real deal. He has a full repertoire and the ability to pull massive manoeuvres in the dying seconds of big heats, and that makes him one of the most exciting surfers in the world to watch. A true showman who wrote his own script to read, ‘just a kid from Umbilo who grew up to conquer the world.’
He’s changed our stories too. No more clinging to Martin Potter and Shaun Tomson as our claim to surfing superstardom.
Jordy Smith is our champion.
* A big THANK YOU to Lu Smith for all the classic grom pics of Jordy.
