HIGH RIDER:
Surfer Michael February from Kommetjie, who has made a major breakthrough in surfing, in action. As the first injury alternate for the men’s Championship Tour this year, not only is he replacing Kelly Slater in the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, but he’ll also step in for veteran Mick Fanning at the Margaret River Pro surfing competition, which starts next month.
FOR those outside South Africa, it was only recently that Capetonian Michael February landed on the prosurfing radar.
But this week anyone who hasn’t seen some of his impressive performances – like his third-place finish at the Ballito Pro or his fifth at the Vans US Open Qualifying Series (QS) last summer – will get an introduction.
As the first injury alternate for the men’s Championship Tour this year, not only will he be replacing Kelly Slater at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, but he’ll also step in for Mick Fanning, starting in April at the Margaret River Pro.
Slater, who is recovering from a foot injury, formally withdrew from the event.
Fanning, a 17-year veteran of the Tour, recently announced that he will be retiring from the WSL Championship Tour (CT) after the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach later this month.
While February had an inkling that he would be stepping in for Fanning, he learnt that he will also be competing for Slater.
Still, blessed with a seemingly unshakable, calm demeanour, the 24-year-old from Kommetjie has been taking it in his stride.
“It’s been a weird last couple of days because I didn’t know what to expect from Kelly,” February said.
“He messaged me and explained the situation, which I really appreciated because I like to understand everything.
‘‘He said he withdrew from the competition, so I guess I’m in.
“It would have been nice to be in Round 1, but I can’t complain and I’m really happy to even be in the event.”
Before taking its unusual turn this past month, February’s ascent to the CT had a traditional trajectory. He finished last season on the QS at No 15 – just a hair outside of the points cut-off for CT qualification – after a slow and steady climb for the past seven years.
In 2011, when he first started on the QS, he finished the year ranked No 487. But he made consistent, yearover-year progress and in 2017 he was the closest he’d ever been to his goal.
“Over the last couple of years good things have happened in my life, personally and professionally,” he said.
“So I try to look at the positives, that’s the way I go about everything because it makes me happy and makes me appreciate every little thing.”
As fans at the event site closed in around the perimeter, snapping photos and eyeing the new addition to the Tour, February was unfazed. “Some things,” he said, “were just meant to be.”