Mick Eugene Fanning was born in the Western Sydney suburb of...

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.

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.

Congratulations Mick - bring on 2008!

Added: October 21, 2008
Producer: Rip Curl
Copyright: Rip Curl
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