High pressure lifts for son of a gun
“For Darren (Mercer) and Grant (Kenny) and myself, we would never choose for our kids to go through the rubbish,” Trevor said of the sometimes cruel comparisons their children have had to their famous parents.
“But for TJ and I, it’s only served to make us closer.
“What’s real is the heart and the love and the connection. It’s been a long journey but there’s a lot of emotion.
“I was just so proud of him as a human being, to be his own person.”
Hendy said it was only recently that he had learnt to be comfortable on the beach despite his father’s shadow.
“Obviously dad’s been a huge role model for me and I’ve always been trying to impress him and I think once I finally let go of the need to impress a couple of people, that’s when I finally won one,” he said.
Hendy, who beat Manly’s Kendrick Louis and Surfers clubmate and Coolangatta Gold champion Ali Day to the line, will lead the series into next month’s second round in Coolum and admitted that he would have to reassess his goals now.
“I just want to have the best summer I can and whatever that looks like, I’ll be happy with,” he said.
“If I can go and put six races on the line and go, every race I did my best, I’ll be happy.”