3x World Champion Mick Fanning Announces His Retirement From The WSL World Tour
Thursday, March 1, 2018 (Sydney, NSW, Australia) –
Late last night, 3x World Champion Mick Fanning announced his retirement from the WSL World Championship Tour. He will surf the first two events of the 2018 season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, and will retire from competitive surfing on the CT after his final heat in the famous Bells Bowl.
“I feel like I’ve just lost the drive to compete day-in day-out now,” says Mick. “It’s been something I’ve been doing for 17 years, and even before that through QS and Juniors, and I feel that I just can’t give it 100 per cent anymore. I’m just not enjoying it as much as I was in the past. I still love surfing, and I’m still super excited by it, but I feel that’s there’s other paths for me to take at this stage in my life.
“As for choosing to retire at Bells, I’ve always had in mind that my last event on Tour was going to be Bells. That’s basically where I started my career, it was my first ever CT win, and I feel really connected down there.”
Over the course of his career Mick has been through more than most of us could imagine. He’s seen both personal triumph and personal tragedy under the scrutiny of the public eye, worked through injuries that would have ended others’ careers, and punched a shark on live television, coming out completely physically unscathed.
Throughout all of that, he has won 3x World Championship Titles, 22x World Tour events, and completed 16 career tours – cementing himself as one of the greatest surfers and sportsmen in history.
“My time on Tour has been a rollercoaster for sure,” says Mick. “You have your peaks and valleys – but you know, when I look back on my time on tour it’s amazing memories - from building myself up to compete, to heat wins and event wins, celebrating with friends and just seeing places I never thought I’d even get to.”
Mick has been a part of Rip Curl for as long as we can remember, and long before he joined the elite World Tour. We’ve been with him through all of the up and all of the downs.
“It’s been a wild and emotional ride on Mick’s pro career for all of us at Rip Curl,” says Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl Chief Brand and Marketing Officer. “He’s been our #1 surfer on Tour for so long that it will be a bit weird when we watch him step off at Bells. We have learned a lot about being partners in the surfing game from being together for so long and I thank him for all that he has done in his three World Titles.
“I have a mountain of respect for him personally, such are the moments that mattered in his career and quite often the very challenging circumstances behind the scenes that he achieved them in. I can dine out on Mick tales for the rest of my life because of that, so ‘Cheers, Mick!’ And we will see you on The Search.”
Congratulations Mick, we couldn’t be more proud of you and everything that you’ve achieved – and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
#CheersMick
For all media enquiries contact: Mimi LaMontagne, Rip Curl Media and Communications Manager, at Mlamontagne@Ripcurl.Com or +61425412053
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