Fanning reckons he’s still got ot it
MICK Fanning believes he still has what it takes to o compete with the world’s s best but is adamant his s Bells Beach cameo is not a pointer to a tour comeback. k.
Three-time world champimpion Fanning retired from m the
World Surf League (WSL) tour in 2018, but has won a wildcard to compete at the Rip Curl Pro, where he will attempt to lift the famous Bells trophy for a fifth time.
“It’s a place that I cherish,” Fanning said of the Bells right-hand break in the shadows of millennia-old cliffs.
“It is a spiritual place, especially with all the stories of the Wadawurrung people … and the amphitheatre style, it’s almost like our grand final running out there.”
Fanning was awarded a wildcard entry to the Narrabeen Classic last year, where he was bundled out in the round of 32 by Italo Ferreira, the Brazilian who beat him in the final at Bells in 2018, denying a fairytale finish to his career.
With Victoria still in lockdown, there was no WSL event at Bells but when offered the chance to return to his favourite break this year, it was too good an opportunity to ignore.
“This is the event that I really wanted to do when I decided I’d take a wildcard here and there. So to be back is really special,” he said.
“The tour has been a little bit different over the last few years, so to have a tiny bit of normality back is something that (everyone) will embrace.”
At 40, some may considered Fanning too old to return to the level that allowed him to dominate the Bells break on so many occasions.
But in a sport in which 11-time world champion Kelly Slater won the season-opener at a pumping Pipeline just days shy of his 50th birthday, Fanning is a mere pup.
“He’s a person that always sort of blows your mind,” Fanning said of Slater.
“So many people (watch him and) probably sit here and go ‘oh, I can do that, I’m only 40’ but he’s an incredible athlete. He’s just a freak.”
Competing until 50 was never going to be for Fanning.
The man whose life became suffocatingly public after he punched a great white shark on live television, has been happy to be out of the public eye, a little at least.
A businessman, philanthropist, father and most recently, white knight to northern NSW flood victims, Fanning is as busy as ever. But he’s not counting himself out next week.
“I think I still have some surfing where I can compete with those guys. I’m happy to dip my toe in and I’ll go and dry it off again,” Fanning said.