It feels right to go, says Fanning

AUSTRALIAN surfing great Mick Fanning is at ease with his decision to retire after this weekend’s Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.

The three-time world champion and four-time Rip Curl Pro winner embarks on his final event tomorrow, before he walks into the sunset to “put myself in wild places where I’m away from people”.

“It’s been real busy since I announced it, but after this I’ll disappear and you won’t find me again until I pad up for a heat,” Fanning said.

“I feel right in what I’m doing. I don’t want to put any expectations on it, I’m just going to go and surf. I’m just stoked I’ve got a whole bunch of family and friends coming down and we’re going to have a good time.

“It’s been something that’s been going on through my mind for a few years now, it was always the idea to come and finish at Bells. It’s great to come down here, I feel calmer down here and I can hide a little bit better.”

The 36-year-old said it had been harder to get out of bed, putting his decision to retire down to “old age”.

“Something upstairs just says, ‘ Now it’s time’,” Fanning said. “You just don’t have it [motivation] anymore, it’s not the same. You try and get yourself up and ready for heats, but instead of getting up and going to training, you’re sleeping in.

“You feel yourself drift away a bit.

“People might go through 2015 and say that was it, but it actually wasn’t. I was thinking about it before then and for me, it was just building up the courage to come up with the right time to do it. It feels right now.”

Fanning was 19 when he received a wildcard entry into the 2001 Rip Curl Pro, a tournament he won, which kicked off his decorated career.

“I was just out of control, way too much energy and just a little whippet,” he recalled.

While Fanning says “the baton” was stolen by guys like world No. 1 John John Florence a long time ago, he doesn’t mind how he’s remembered by the surfing public.

“They can remember me anyway they want, it’s not up to me,” he said.

“I just always tried to do my best. I never wanted to go to bed at night and say I would have, should have, could have done this.”