Speaker 1: Welcome back to three doting dads. I'm Maddie Jay, I'm Ash,
Speaker 1: and I'm Mick Fanning. And normally this podcast is purely
Speaker 1: just about parenting, the highs, the lows, the relatability, and
Speaker 1: no advice.
Speaker 2: No, usually we don't offer any advice.
Speaker 1: But I reckon this one's going to be a little
Speaker 1: bit different.
Speaker 2: B Maybe some life advice, maybe some paddle advice, how
Speaker 2: to surf better, maybe for Matt, not for me. I
Speaker 2: don't think I could take the feedback.
Speaker 3: Nick.
Speaker 1: We wanted to say, firstly, thank you for welcoming us
Speaker 1: into your house on the Gold Coast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's beautiful, and like all good guests, we have
Speaker 2: brought you something to say thank you.
Speaker 1: It would be rude if we came empty handed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's not scary, it's all good. When I
Speaker 2: was growing up, me and my friends used to watch
Speaker 2: a movie if you was called Fanning the Fire beautiful,
Speaker 2: and we used to I was saying to Matt, we
Speaker 2: used to have one of those. My dad's a medical
Speaker 2: rep used to be medical rep, and it used to
Speaker 2: have like a small TV that you got from a
Speaker 2: doctor surgery that had a VHS in it that you
Speaker 2: could slow mow it down. We should to slow mow
Speaker 2: it down when you were hitting the lip or whatever.
Speaker 2: See if we could pick up some techniques. So I've
Speaker 2: managed to get hold of a VHS of fanning the
Speaker 2: fire for you and Maddie and I on the inside
Speaker 2: have just said thanks for having us signed it off
Speaker 2: for you to do what you want with it, but again,
Speaker 2: thank you for having us. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Thank you guys.
Speaker 1: When we started the podcast, we had a bit of
Speaker 1: a list. We didn't really think we'd have that many guests,
Speaker 1: to be honest, we thought it would.
Speaker 2: Just be Ash and myself talking shit.
Speaker 1: And we put a list together who would we like
Speaker 1: on the podcast and your name was thrown out as
Speaker 1: one of the top shelf guests and Ash said, leave
Speaker 1: it with me. I'm going to do some work and
Speaker 1: I'll be honest. I gave him about a five percent chair.
Speaker 1: I'm locking in this interview. I thought, if ever there
Speaker 1: was someone who's being pulled pillart a post for requests
Speaker 1: on podcasts, it would be yourself.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I look, I connected some dots. Thankfully. I
Speaker 2: met Sam, so shout out to Sam, who's a great guy,
Speaker 2: and I said, have you got can you help me out?
Speaker 2: Obviously he's managed to connect us, and yeah, thank you
Speaker 2: for inviting us to your house, because I mean I
Speaker 2: wouldn't want us in your house, but.
Speaker 3: Some different people.
Speaker 2: Here we are, so those of you are listening, just
Speaker 2: a little bit of an introduction for Mick. He's a
Speaker 2: three time world champion. Here's a nine time Australian Surfer
Speaker 2: of the year.
Speaker 1: Is it nine times?
Speaker 3: It is?
Speaker 2: You? Look?
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: Pretends I wanted that many times.
Speaker 1: I stopped counting when I got to five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely, it's definitely nine I've done. There was
Speaker 2: conflicting articles, but it's nine. You single, as I say,
Speaker 2: you carried a generation of Australian surfers on your back
Speaker 2: for a very long time and definitely one of my
Speaker 2: growing up watching obviously Fanning White Lightning as we call
Speaker 2: you in my household, just shred. So thank you for
Speaker 2: having us.
Speaker 1: I think the most surprising thing when we were doing
Speaker 1: some research into you, If anyone who's not familiar, you're
Speaker 1: originally from Penrith. So how does a boy from Penrith
Speaker 1: become a world champion surfer? Do you remember your first
Speaker 1: little taste of the ocean or was it love at
Speaker 1: first sight?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do, so to answer your question, how to
Speaker 3: surf in Penrith, we don't.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 3: So my parents separated when I was pretty young and
Speaker 3: we moved to CoP's Harbor with my dad and we
Speaker 3: lived it was five minute walk from the beach, and
Speaker 3: my elder brothers Ed and Pete just found surfing, just
Speaker 3: fell in love with surfing, and so we just tagged along.
Speaker 3: And my introduction to surfing was sort of rapidly because
Speaker 3: my brother Pete, he doesn't have any boundaries how many
Speaker 3: years older. He is nine years older than me, yeah, and.
Speaker 2: So you're the youngest on the youngest of five and.
Speaker 3: So he just he's pretty much like, yeah, I'll take
Speaker 3: his surfing and he get me out the back and
Speaker 3: goes all right.
Speaker 2: So that's how it obviously works.
Speaker 3: So that's that, and he did that, like I speak
Speaker 3: to his daughter and she's still haunted by I remember
Speaker 3: this one day took her out snapper. It was like
Speaker 3: three foot and she's like five years old and she's
Speaker 3: on the front care he just laughs. But yeah, that's
Speaker 3: pretty much how our introduction. And then from there though,
Speaker 3: we moved after coughs after surfing a little bit, moved
Speaker 3: back down to Campbelltown.
Speaker 2: Classic surf breakout.
Speaker 3: So I got more into skating at that time, but
Speaker 3: my brother Ed was still so in love with surfing.
Speaker 3: He would catch the train from Campbelltown to Woollongong or Manly,
Speaker 3: depending on where you want to surf. And so, yeah,
Speaker 3: thirteen year old kid on the train with his surfboard
Speaker 3: in the Western suburbs. Probably when it's that.
Speaker 1: That's that like a couple hour trip for anyone who.
Speaker 2: I think it's yeah and a half two hours, especially
Speaker 2: like back then when it was probably like you know,
Speaker 2: like public transport.
Speaker 1: Wasn't as frequent as what it is.
Speaker 2: You couldn't get an uber. My old man lived in Balmaina.
Speaker 2: He was the same. He used to travel to Manly
Speaker 2: every day so whenever me growing up, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: couldn't be bothered going surf, and he's like, I used
Speaker 2: to get a bus and he's not eighty sixty. I
Speaker 2: used to get a bus in the train and you're complaining.
Speaker 2: You live down the road from you know, one of
Speaker 2: the best beaches in the world. So yeah, I can
Speaker 2: definitely feel that.
Speaker 1: Do you remember was there a point or was it
Speaker 1: something that just was gradual, that desire to be the best?
Speaker 1: Do you remember going I want to be world champion?
Speaker 1: Or was it just a case of wanting to be
Speaker 1: better than your brothers?
Speaker 2: Sorry? Or it was it just like fuck, I'm good.
Speaker 3: Definitely wasn't that one. No, So it was I don't know.
Speaker 3: I always wanted to be really good at something growing up.
Speaker 3: I was into cross country running, I was into soccer,
Speaker 3: and surfing was pretty much the last thing I would
Speaker 3: do on the weekend after I did all those other things.
Speaker 3: And it wasn't until like I was sewingto soccer. I
Speaker 3: thought I was going to be a pro soccer player.
Speaker 3: And we moved to the Gold Coast and it sort
Speaker 3: of went to sign up at Palmis Soccer Club and
Speaker 3: we actually went the wrong day. So I jump back
Speaker 3: in the car all sad, and you know target.
Speaker 1: Did you rock up? And there was just no one there?
Speaker 2: How old were you at this point?
Speaker 3: I was twelve?
Speaker 2: So the competitive fire of you, I can't wait, especially
Speaker 2: for a club like Palm Beach is a pretty big
Speaker 2: club around here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how you missed that?
Speaker 3: You?
Speaker 1: Was that your mum?
Speaker 3: I'm not too sure. I'm really not too sure. I
Speaker 3: we were just thinking there'd be someone there. We thought
Speaker 3: it was sign on, but it was just wasn't wasn't happening.
Speaker 2: I did a similar thing but went to the wrong field,
Speaker 2: but I didn't become a world I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: tell that story.
Speaker 3: But then jumped in the car, went down to Deba
Speaker 3: and my brother Sean was meeting up with the guys
Speaker 3: from Quicksilver to get sponsored, and I just went surfing.
Speaker 3: And I came in and remember Dang Taquino and Scott Peacock,
Speaker 3: who were the Quicksilver guys at the time. They came
Speaker 3: up to me and I was like, oh, you're looking
Speaker 3: for my brother, and they're like, is that your brother?
Speaker 3: And they're like, we'll sponsor you too, and I.
Speaker 1: Was like, look, they just been watching you surf.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so they were watching us both. And long story short,
Speaker 3: didn't go back to soccer obviously, and just surfing just
Speaker 3: took over.
Speaker 1: So when you when you first get sponsored, what does
Speaker 1: that look like. Is it a board and a bit
Speaker 1: of money per week or.
Speaker 2: Sticker at the front of the Yeah, he is the
Speaker 2: biggest thing, is the gramat because I know as a like,
Speaker 2: I'm what nine years younger than you, and like, I
Speaker 2: remember seeing all you guys surfing with yes stickers on
Speaker 2: the front. I was like, how do I get one
Speaker 2: of those stickers on the front of my board? For sure,
Speaker 2: you've got to be sponsored, so heeps people to pretend
Speaker 2: like me, I'm still pretending.
Speaker 3: I think my first contract was five hundred dollars worth
Speaker 3: of clothes sick and a winter wet suit and a
Speaker 3: summer wet suit.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a fair whack at the time too.
Speaker 3: For sure, I had nothing from soccer.
Speaker 2: How many stickers did you get?
Speaker 3: But yeah, so that was pretty much here. And then
Speaker 3: started at PBC pum Beach crumbin high school, and our
Speaker 3: seat was pretty much consisted of all the best surface
Speaker 3: in this area. So you know, I sat with Dean Morrison,
Speaker 3: Joe Parkinson and there was a few other tough crowd.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I just those two were destined to be
Speaker 3: pro surfer and I was just like, well, I'm going
Speaker 3: to do whatever they're doing so I can be pro
Speaker 3: served too.
Speaker 1: How was your mom at that point? Did she think
Speaker 1: this is amazing, You've just been sponsored, this is your future?
Speaker 3: Well Ed was sponsorible Billibong before Sean and ed were
Speaker 3: just so in love with surfing, you know, great surfers.
Speaker 3: So she was like, look, follow your dreams. If it
Speaker 3: works out, it works out. If it doesn't, then you know,
Speaker 3: go to school, get a real job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you have any backup plan at all?
Speaker 2: Yes, soccer roos mate didn't know.
Speaker 3: She was pretty adamant that we had to go to
Speaker 3: school and keep learning. That was the one thing. But
Speaker 3: then it was just like, follow your dreams. She was
Speaker 3: always say that, follow your dreams. And she tells grandkids, now,
Speaker 3: just go and follow your dreams. So crack. Yeah, And
Speaker 3: so that was pretty much it. We just we just
Speaker 3: went for it. And you know, I sort of as
Speaker 3: time went on. By the time I got to like
Speaker 3: year eleven and twelve had contracts that I could live off.
Speaker 2: So I was like, and you finished school all the
Speaker 2: way through?
Speaker 3: No? I left halfway through year twelve. I wanted to finish,
Speaker 3: but they sure you did me. They told me if
Speaker 3: I missed one more day of school, then I wasn't
Speaker 3: going to get my OP. So I was like, well, so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're actually Micky and me. We're quite similar, not
Speaker 1: in terms of athletic ability, but we're both kind of
Speaker 1: I guess mummy boys. Would you call yourself that?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Probably perfect?
Speaker 2: Great, Yeah, Matt's one of five as well. That's the
Speaker 2: middle child, so it's been nurtured.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, the middle one.
Speaker 1: But I never had I never had the alter ego though.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you did, Gene.
Speaker 1: When did that come out?
Speaker 2: Who branded you with the alter ego Eugene?
Speaker 3: My mate Ado Wiseman actually drew that one. Naughty Eugene.
Speaker 1: Is that Eugene there?
Speaker 3: That's naughty Eugene. Yeah. So yeah, what happened was I
Speaker 3: didn't It was after Sean passed away. I didn't drink
Speaker 3: for a long time. I shouldn't have been drinking anyway.
Speaker 3: I was only seventeen, but I went down to his
Speaker 3: twenty first birthday and got pretty drunk and he was like,
Speaker 3: I've never seen that side of you, and that was it.
Speaker 3: He just goes that was like you were different persons.
Speaker 3: Just called me Eugene and it just stuck. He's got
Speaker 3: me into a bit of trouble over the years, so
Speaker 3: I've sort of tried to tone him back and sort
Speaker 3: of created another alter ego that I call McMuffin, who's
Speaker 3: a little bit naughty.
Speaker 2: Since becoming a dad. Do you think that Eugene suppressed
Speaker 2: much more?
Speaker 3: Surely? Oh for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2: Mc muffin comes out much more.
Speaker 3: Becoming a dad. It's like kids don't have an off switch.
Speaker 3: If you're hungover, it's game over. You might as well.
Speaker 2: That's when I do my best parenting.
Speaker 3: I love him just sitting on the couch and just
Speaker 3: sooking my way through a hangover. But yeah, I just
Speaker 3: I don't really drink that often anymore, and if I do,
Speaker 3: it's for a very special occasion.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the last time Eugene made an appearance.
Speaker 3: Four Yeah, it's probably about three weeks ago. Is he
Speaker 3: still I left him there? Yeah, I woke up the
Speaker 3: next day and hungover. Parenting was great.
Speaker 2: It is brutal, isn't it. I Mean it's so bad.
Speaker 2: And like around that time, you would have been probably
Speaker 2: just going into the ASP Tour was what it was
Speaker 2: called then.
Speaker 3: When I was younger. No, I was doing the Junior
Speaker 3: Series at that stage, and then.
Speaker 2: You won the Junior QS.
Speaker 3: No, I never never actually won, Like the series always
Speaker 3: was sort of like second or third mark and didn't go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the three that rivalry like friendly rivalry to the three.
Speaker 2: I could imagine that when I surf now and I'm
Speaker 2: sitting there and I see like a couple of grom's
Speaker 2: all together coming out, I'm like, funk, I'm getting out.
Speaker 2: I can imagine over the years and the amount of
Speaker 2: people looked in and went.
Speaker 3: Shit, happens.
Speaker 1: It happened.
Speaker 3: If the three of us are out in the water,
Speaker 3: it's a bad day for everyone else. We're just paling
Speaker 3: around each other, and we just turned into sharks where
Speaker 3: we just freaking just ignore everyone else in the line.
Speaker 3: We're just there to annoy the shit out of it.
Speaker 2: You kind of earn the right around here or around
Speaker 2: the world, all three of you. Really, you sort of
Speaker 2: earned the right to be like mix here. Well you
Speaker 2: can have this one mate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So what was your rookie year? My rookie year
Speaker 3: on tour was two thousand and two. Did the QS
Speaker 3: going into that, but yeah, rookie year two thousand and two,
Speaker 3: all three of us were on tour. I think Parker
Speaker 3: got second in the world that year. I ended up fifth,
Speaker 3: and Dingo didn't do that great.
Speaker 2: Did you get Rookie of the Year that year? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 2: first year, Yeah, amongst best surfer of the year. Australia
Speaker 2: or was it the year.
Speaker 3: After maybe a year after? Yeah, they sort of with
Speaker 3: the Australian surfers of the year. It's it's like whoever's
Speaker 3: on top of the.
Speaker 1: On top when you had your rookie year. For the
Speaker 1: older boys, did they welcome you with open arms or
Speaker 1: is there like any level of initiation.
Speaker 2: High school hazing?
Speaker 3: Yeah, a bit of both. Really. It was funny. So
Speaker 3: because there was the three of us, plus we had
Speaker 3: Nathan Hedge as well, Yeah, Hoggie, Yeah, the whole we
Speaker 3: sort of traveled as a pack and so it was
Speaker 3: sort of we probably had more confidence than what we deserved.
Speaker 3: But then we had like we had great people look
Speaker 3: after us, like Mick lo bo Emin and Hockey looky
Speaker 3: somebody old.
Speaker 1: It just the done thing that the older boys will
Speaker 1: like allow you to come under their wing, or is
Speaker 1: it how does that work with the hierarchy of like, oh,
Speaker 1: let's look after Mickey's how young were you at the time?
Speaker 3: I was twenty turn twenty one that year? But no,
Speaker 3: it was sort of more like those guys enjoyed a
Speaker 3: beer and every time that they asked you if you
Speaker 3: wanted to be say yes, yes. So we sort of
Speaker 3: build that rapport over that. And plus we've known them
Speaker 3: for a long time growing up through older brothers and
Speaker 3: stuff like that, so.
Speaker 2: Like all the board riders and stuff as well, exactly,
Speaker 2: and I remember like, look it like board rder lineups,
Speaker 2: and it was just like, how do you compete with that?
Speaker 3: Oh? Total?
Speaker 2: Really, I mean the culture back then being ASP it
Speaker 2: was like, I mean we look at two and now
Speaker 2: these athletes, right, they've sort of evolved from you know,
Speaker 2: instead of like hockey offering your beer, it's now it's
Speaker 2: like a saue bowl straight to the gym, Like, you know,
Speaker 2: standing next to these guys, you're like, holy shit, Yeah,
Speaker 2: they're built. So I do recall you had that injury
Speaker 2: to your hamstring and then you sort of came back
Speaker 2: with a different fire. And I always think when the
Speaker 2: Brazilian storm came in as well, it was kind of
Speaker 2: like all of a sudden, we can't be piss heads
Speaker 2: anymore and we've got to start to train, and you
Speaker 2: really focused on your training. It sort of led you
Speaker 2: into much more of a competitive surf for the back
Speaker 2: end of your career.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, So I tore my hamstringing off the
Speaker 3: bone in two thousand and four. But before that, like mate,
Speaker 3: I was having as much fun as anything else, you know,
Speaker 3: early and he's single, having a great time around the
Speaker 3: world as you would. Yeah, and then once I tore
Speaker 3: my hamstring off the bar and I realized that I
Speaker 3: was taking it for granted.
Speaker 1: Like a reality check.
Speaker 3: It was a big reality check. And it was the
Speaker 3: first time, like pretty much from sixteen to twenty, things
Speaker 3: just happened so fast, so we didn't even get a
Speaker 3: break just to look at what we have achieved or whatever.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I had six months on the couch, and
Speaker 3: so it was the first time I actually got to
Speaker 3: learn about diet, learn about proper training and all these
Speaker 3: different things. And probably the biggest thing was I watched
Speaker 3: an old clip and it just I saw that I
Speaker 3: was off and I could have won the heat. And
Speaker 3: I remembered back and I was like, I was partying
Speaker 3: two nights before, and I'm like, well, there it is.
Speaker 3: I had this huge guild over me, and that's why
Speaker 3: I sort of just changed my whole thing where it
Speaker 3: was just party at.
Speaker 1: The end of it. So how are the boys then
Speaker 1: when they're like, hey, make have a beer and You're like,
Speaker 1: not for me, I'm having a green tea.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Please.
Speaker 3: It was a bit weird to be honest at the start,
Speaker 3: like because back then, because there was forty four guys
Speaker 3: on tour, you would win your first teat and you'd
Speaker 3: have the next day off, so it could have been
Speaker 3: with the waiting period, it could have been that day,
Speaker 3: it could have been three days off. So usually you'd
Speaker 3: get eighteen guys go out and have a good time. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was really different that people would be like, come
Speaker 3: have a beer and like, nah, I'm good, like and everyone.
Speaker 2: You're okay, Like yeah, imagine.
Speaker 3: Back in those days too, like if you said you
Speaker 3: weren't drinking, then there's like.
Speaker 1: Something was wrong wrong.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sort of became part of the culture.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, it was a bit different, but then yeah,
Speaker 3: it's time evolved and just started turning and just turning
Speaker 3: Jim junkies.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you think that, Like I mentioned the Brazilian
Speaker 2: Storm with their injection into the tour because they're so
Speaker 2: competitive and you see these guys on the tour now,
Speaker 2: like Philip who just won Jefferies like last night, and
Speaker 2: Gabe especially, and you spent some time with Gabe over
Speaker 2: you rear, just through sponsorship and stuff, the drive and
Speaker 2: the training, like he's got his own facility in Brazil
Speaker 2: for young and upcoming surfers to get the right training.
Speaker 2: Do you think that they brought on this complete new
Speaker 2: generation of surfer.
Speaker 3: I think like they're crazy, crazy talented, Like that's one thing.
Speaker 3: But I think also too, it's a hunger from where
Speaker 3: they come from. A lot of them grew up with nothing,
Speaker 3: and you know, as history goes, the kids that grew
Speaker 3: up with nothing, the ones that go and just keep
Speaker 3: fighting the Yeah, you talk to any of them and
Speaker 3: asked where they come from, they're all the same. You know.
Speaker 1: The only way out was sport and winning.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's either soccer or surfing, and so that's where
Speaker 3: all their fire comes from. And then it's sort of
Speaker 3: I guess like for Gabe, Philippe and Italy they're all maids. Well,
Speaker 3: they grew up as mates, and then it all becomes
Speaker 3: this thing where I'm not letting my mate beat me.
Speaker 3: So they're fighting within them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, perpetuates.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it just keeps putting them into this different stratosphere.
Speaker 3: But I think we start to learn, you know, I
Speaker 3: think kids are starting to learn that they have to
Speaker 3: create this grit or create this fire from somewhere and
Speaker 3: we're slowly seeing kids figure out what works what doesn't.
Speaker 3: I think this year is as competitive as.
Speaker 2: It gets, which yeah, it's crazy. I go like a
Speaker 2: specific gym in Sydney and they're getting younger and younger
Speaker 2: than guys that are coming because they're like, I want
Speaker 2: to build this strength so I can do turns like
Speaker 2: mc fanning did when you know, when he was on tour,
Speaker 2: and when you know, these guys are doing massive hacks,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that ring and wet at
Speaker 2: thirty kilos, you know.
Speaker 3: So Yeah, it's sort of a funny one for me
Speaker 3: too though, because I want kids to enjoy surfing for
Speaker 3: what it is, and that's you know, go and have
Speaker 3: surf with your mates and stuff.
Speaker 1: Not be so clinical.
Speaker 2: Yeah, such an expression of yourself too.
Speaker 1: How do you convey that as a legend of the sport?
Speaker 1: Get out of the gym?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's sort of a twofold sort of answer,
Speaker 3: Like a lot of it was. When we were growing up,
Speaker 3: Surfing wasn't seen as a career. It was just something
Speaker 3: that you did and.
Speaker 1: The five hundred bucks worth of clothes.
Speaker 3: Right now, parents see that, Oh, these guys can go
Speaker 3: and make lots of money and become you know, it's
Speaker 3: almost that soccer parent and so it's a tough one.
Speaker 3: And so it's more I think it's more on the
Speaker 3: parent side of things to be like, hey, you just
Speaker 3: go have fun, you know, don't worry about this contest
Speaker 3: or that contest. When you're twelve, it doesn't matter if
Speaker 3: you win or not, as long as you really enjoying it.
Speaker 3: And then as you get older, it's more about just
Speaker 3: learning and experiences and you know, just creating childhood friendships
Speaker 3: that last for an eternity. So that's what I would say.
Speaker 3: Once you get to a point when you're you know,
Speaker 3: anywhere from like sixteen to eighteen, if you show promise,
Speaker 3: then start inquiring about knuckling down.
Speaker 2: There's always plenty of time in those teenage years to
Speaker 2: have fun and then find some focus. I can just
Speaker 2: see in ten years time, if we have this conversation again,
Speaker 2: You're going to be standing on the beach in Xander's
Speaker 2: going to be competing.
Speaker 3: You're like.
Speaker 2: That, I'll be whistling on the beach.
Speaker 3: I'll be at home on the internet.
Speaker 1: When you look back at the three world championships. Kind
Speaker 1: of imagine it would be like a child trying to
Speaker 1: pick your favorite. Is there one that stands out when
Speaker 1: you're having those moments on the back porch having a drink,
Speaker 1: and you think, oh, that one stands out bigger than
Speaker 1: the others.
Speaker 3: They're all really different, you know. The first one was
Speaker 3: really I was in a world of unknown and it
Speaker 3: was a world of just trial and error and competing
Speaker 3: against icons of the sport Kelly Andy, Taj Parker. I
Speaker 3: was just trying to figure it out as it went,
Speaker 3: and I was just so focused on it that nothing
Speaker 3: else came into my world. So that one was a
Speaker 3: bit different, but I was really proud of myself for
Speaker 3: figuring out a system. But then from there, two thousand
Speaker 3: and nine was really different. In two thousand and eight,
Speaker 3: I felt like I had to sort of repay the
Speaker 3: people that supported me, so I sort of at that stage,
Speaker 3: I couldn't compete but also be a good friend or
Speaker 3: a good brother or sister. So I sort of went
Speaker 3: the other way, and I was trying to learn how
Speaker 3: to juggle it all and yeah, just really wanting to,
Speaker 3: I guess, try and create a balance. And then two
Speaker 3: thousand and nine I felt like I had a really
Speaker 3: good balance. I could have a lot of fun with
Speaker 3: my friends, but then I could always switch on and
Speaker 3: get back to work and competitive mindset.
Speaker 1: Yeah, was it pretty consistent with each of the three
Speaker 1: that come down, like when you have the high of winning,
Speaker 1: does it last? To say each time?
Speaker 3: Two thousand and seven was probably a bit more. I
Speaker 3: was probably more exhausted the other ones. It was sort
Speaker 3: of just up to me putting pressure on myself that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I felt like the last one was more tradesmanlike where
Speaker 3: to be really honest, I doubted myself every time I
Speaker 3: pad out for a height, like I'm not winning this,
Speaker 3: I'm not winning that, I'm not good enough, Like.
Speaker 1: Because you're getting older or what was?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was older and just you know, talking about
Speaker 3: the new kids that were coming through. You had Gabe,
Speaker 3: you had John John, and you had all these kids
Speaker 3: that just were just doing incredible things.
Speaker 2: I can't imagine how Kelly Slater feels having to go
Speaker 2: three or four different times, the changing of the gut.
Speaker 2: But he's still there.
Speaker 3: And I say it all the time, I'm glad I quit.
Speaker 2: That's stressful.
Speaker 3: And so you're all really really different. But as you said,
Speaker 3: they're like different children.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I suppose like retirement. You're retired in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 2: do you feel that you were at your peak performance?
Speaker 2: How do you think you would go today and look
Speaker 2: be as modest as you like in a Jeffrey's Bay
Speaker 2: heat today.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, you know for places, there's some places on
Speaker 3: tour that are still surf traditionally, and Jbay is one
Speaker 3: of them. Pipeline Choku like those ones are ones that
Speaker 3: are still surf traditional style of surfing like I look at.
Speaker 3: I won't talk about myself, but watching guys like Parker,
Speaker 3: Andy and Kelly, like Kelly in his prime would still
Speaker 3: still believable.
Speaker 2: There's a reason he's got so many world titles. Just
Speaker 2: not a fluke. Levin's not a fluke.
Speaker 3: He was this world.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Micky, we had the privilege of meeting your
Speaker 1: wife before we started recording. I did have a little
Speaker 1: look at your social media and it just seems like
Speaker 1: you guys are so picture pertect.
Speaker 2: From the Bachelor, so we all got to watch their
Speaker 2: whole love unfold.
Speaker 1: He rivals it. I think that there was like a
Speaker 1: Mister Universe competition for couples.
Speaker 3: Up top Husband of the Year mate.
Speaker 1: Where did you guys meet? How did you guys come together?
Speaker 3: Yeah? It was funny. We sort of met by mutual
Speaker 3: friends and yeah, I met in the States and it
Speaker 3: was just a weird one best play, so explain It
Speaker 3: was I had a friend and she had a friend
Speaker 3: and they hooked up and then she came over to
Speaker 3: pick up her friend. You know, so she didn't have tom.
Speaker 2: That was a morning meet up. You actually met in
Speaker 2: the morning.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you walked in and I didn't meet her
Speaker 3: the night before, but we had all been put on
Speaker 3: the same table and I was just I was just Eugene.
Speaker 3: And then she walked in wearing my jacket. I was like, whoa,
Speaker 3: that's a bit friend h and but she just picked
Speaker 3: it up.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I guess someone stole her jacket. And you have a jacket.
Speaker 3: My mom goes mixed gun home.
Speaker 2: Just take his jacket, he doesn't need it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how quickly do you drop in? I am a
Speaker 1: three time world champion, So is that not at all?
Speaker 2: Not at all? What about a nine times austraie that's perfect?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So yeah, really sort of a random meeting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, isn't it always like it's not always the case
Speaker 2: your case is not yours was completely public and on
Speaker 2: TV for everyone to see.
Speaker 1: Should we talk about it?
Speaker 2: They put you in a room together. But yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2: It's like a friend of a friend and like just
Speaker 2: a chance meeting. And now you know, you've got obviously
Speaker 2: a beautiful home, a beautiful son, and you've got married.
Speaker 1: And at what point were you thinking, maybe I will
Speaker 1: have kids, maybe I won't, because you know, were you
Speaker 1: in your mid to late thirties at that point.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I had a marriage breakdown before,
Speaker 3: and so I was like, I'm just gonna just sail
Speaker 3: off in the same seat and be a nomad. And
Speaker 3: then yeah, when I met bre we just stayed in
Speaker 3: touch and kept talking and she one day she was
Speaker 3: visiting out from the States and she's like, I want
Speaker 3: to move to Australia. I was like, really cool.
Speaker 1: How long have you guys been together for?
Speaker 3: At that point it's probably I think it was like
Speaker 3: a second or third time she was out here.
Speaker 2: Oh wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but we'd caught up a fair bit because she
Speaker 3: was just living around the corner for my best mate
Speaker 3: as well in the States, so we caught up a
Speaker 3: fair bit and then from there it was like all right,
Speaker 3: but then you sort of just you just see how
Speaker 3: things go, like you don't put any pressure on it.
Speaker 3: And then one day we're just sort of talking and
Speaker 3: it was like, well, you know, would you want kids?
Speaker 3: Do you want kids? And we're both like, yeah, let's
Speaker 3: let's have kids. Off we go then, and so that
Speaker 3: was pretty much it, and we saw of selected like
Speaker 3: a time frame that we wanted to start trying, and
Speaker 3: bre wanted to get her body right for having kids
Speaker 3: and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: And then it's very mature. Yeah, getting a very mature
Speaker 2: thing to get your body right to do anything that kids.
Speaker 1: You dropped aneat when you were doing a photo shoot
Speaker 1: for the pregnancy. How much planning went into that moment?
Speaker 3: Oh, this was such a funny day. I sort of
Speaker 3: came out at two different angles where we went in
Speaker 3: for our first scan, and so its.
Speaker 2: Nerve wracking scans awesome.
Speaker 3: I loved it.
Speaker 2: I was saying that every.
Speaker 1: Scan I got motion sickness from the heartbeat.
Speaker 3: I love it. Oh, I'm so stoked to be a
Speaker 3: part of it. But yeah, and so I was sitting there,
Speaker 3: I was like, hey, we've got to do a photo
Speaker 3: and you know, we've got to let it out into
Speaker 3: the world so you know, someone else doesn't break the
Speaker 3: news or something like that. So I had my mate
Speaker 3: staying with us at the time, Corey Wilson, and I'm like,
Speaker 3: let's go do a photo shoot. Once we knew that
Speaker 3: she was pregnant, I was the right thing to do
Speaker 3: is propose and.
Speaker 2: Lock it down.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're in the States at the time. I ordered
Speaker 3: the ring. The ring was pretty much right next to
Speaker 3: the whole flight home. She didn't know anything.
Speaker 2: That's the best want to do it?
Speaker 1: Were you like in your pocket on you?
Speaker 3: I gave it to my mate, Corey and having.
Speaker 1: His bag fresher on Corey, Yeah, I don't lose my
Speaker 1: ring there.
Speaker 3: And so we got home and I was like, look,
Speaker 3: we've got to go do this photo shoot and been
Speaker 3: raining forever to She's like, I've got nothing to wear.
Speaker 3: I've got none of this. I don't feel pretty, and
Speaker 3: I'm just like, just put anything on it.
Speaker 2: My hand stopped storming.
Speaker 3: But we had an appointment and we're driving home. She
Speaker 3: we're not doing photos today. I'm like, we've got it.
Speaker 3: You gotta got nothing to wear, and I'm like I
Speaker 3: was just thinking, how am I going to do this,
Speaker 3: and so I got Corey in and Corey's like, no,
Speaker 3: I wear that. That's beautiful. It looks amazing. It looks
Speaker 3: so good.
Speaker 1: Is Coley like a fashionable guy?
Speaker 3: Was?
Speaker 1: Are you just like just it's just pushed this as
Speaker 1: like a yes thing?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he photo shoots, he gets great.
Speaker 2: He's a really good photographer.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if he's dressing the boy.
Speaker 3: So we went down the beach and then sure enough
Speaker 3: sun comes out. I'm like, we've got to go. We've
Speaker 3: got to go. We've got to go do it and
Speaker 3: say we're doing the photos.
Speaker 1: It's hard to know like to do it now, Wait,
Speaker 1: how honest were you nervous?
Speaker 3: I was nervous. I think it's all men are.
Speaker 2: Such a nervous like similar to I actually went to
Speaker 2: the States to propose and with my now wife and
Speaker 2: I hit it. The ring on me the whole time
Speaker 2: I had it tucked into my underpants and one dage
Speaker 2: she put her arm around me. She never touches me.
Speaker 2: I don't know this instant she decided to touch me.
Speaker 2: Missed it by about that and I was honestly just
Speaker 2: packing nuggets for like days on the lead up. She
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, you get to that moment the sun's out,
Speaker 2: Cory's got the camera.
Speaker 3: Out, and she said something like it's going to be
Speaker 3: so fun all of us together. And I was like, well,
Speaker 3: why don't we make it official? And she's like what
Speaker 3: And I just pulled it out of my pocket and
Speaker 3: giving me goosebumps.
Speaker 2: Yeah, flashbacks.
Speaker 3: It was crazy though, and it was like it was
Speaker 3: the first beach I had taken her to in Australia and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the sun came out of dolphins, that's already seen.
Speaker 1: Do you remember what it was like that very first
Speaker 1: moment that you got to hold Xander.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was incredible. As you go through the birth,
Speaker 3: you're hearing noises that you've never heard your partner ever make,
Speaker 3: and this and that this is this is like it's primal.
Speaker 2: It's like it's pretty intense. It's pretty intense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I found it so beautiful. And then we
Speaker 3: didn't find out if it was going to be a
Speaker 3: boy or a girl. We just went for it.
Speaker 1: Did you have any preference or we're like I.
Speaker 3: Wanted a boy and Bree thought it was a boy
Speaker 3: the whole time, and I was like, well, if it's
Speaker 3: not a boy, I've got to really sit down and
Speaker 3: you know, talk to myself. And I had a week
Speaker 3: where I was like coaching myself through it, and so
Speaker 3: I was so pumped either way in the end. And
Speaker 3: then when he came out and I picked him up,
Speaker 3: and the obstrics like, I want you check out what
Speaker 3: it is, and I just like picked him up. I
Speaker 3: never even used before.
Speaker 1: I always I always thought they would say, like they
Speaker 1: would announce it in the room because maybe it's a
Speaker 1: new thing now. They kind of because I didn't know either,
Speaker 1: and they kind of just said, you go check. I
Speaker 1: always thought they would like call it.
Speaker 2: Out like the PA at the hospital.
Speaker 3: Girl, Yeah, I guess it's in your birth plan, right,
Speaker 3: And like that moment where you go skin to skin
Speaker 3: with you, look, there is no other moment like it
Speaker 3: until you do it again.
Speaker 2: It's not a special as this time. That's not true.
Speaker 2: That moment is Yeah, like I said, there's nothing else
Speaker 2: like it. Do you think you'll have another kid? Are
Speaker 2: you planning on?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we have talked about it. We're always plan or
Speaker 3: not plan, but it's definitely in the pipeline. Would love
Speaker 3: to but you know when that happens.
Speaker 2: When that happens, it happens. Yeah, that was like similar, assid.
Speaker 2: When my wife decides it's going to happen, it's going
Speaker 2: to happen.
Speaker 3: That's usually.
Speaker 1: When we became dads. We always joke about some of
Speaker 1: the changes that started to happen, Like for me, I
Speaker 1: all of a sudden really liked lawn grass, became obsessed,
Speaker 1: started walking with my hands behind my back.
Speaker 2: Are you sneezers louder now that you're a dad?
Speaker 3: I've always been a loud sneezer?
Speaker 1: Any dad tendencies that have started to creep in after
Speaker 1: Xander arrived.
Speaker 3: I wear a man bag now just to make sure
Speaker 3: that I've got all the gear, Yeah, like a dad bag, Yeah,
Speaker 3: just because I couldn't carry a big old handbag.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I just got a couple of that piece And
Speaker 3: have you had to add a couple of leaders to
Speaker 3: your surfboards?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: He looks, he looks anything, how dare you suggest? Well,
Speaker 1: well you did mention you had pancakes for breakfast this morning,
Speaker 1: getting away with that.
Speaker 3: Gluten free dawn. That's the trick is that he definitely changed,
Speaker 3: like especially being an athlete and I just come out
Speaker 3: of knee surgery.
Speaker 2: I'm stabbing the dark. That's right with Dane. Yeah, So
Speaker 2: Dane Reynolds is up there for me.
Speaker 3: So I was working pretty hard and for me it
Speaker 3: was more just my selfishness just had to go out
Speaker 3: of the window. That's probably the big and the biggest
Speaker 3: thing is like, you know, when I want to get
Speaker 3: go to sleep in like this morning for instance, got
Speaker 3: busy days, so it's like, well, you're going to get
Speaker 3: up on dark and go surfing. Yeah, it doesn't matter
Speaker 3: what the waves like, you're going.
Speaker 2: That's the only time you get to go.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise you sort of get you get down.
Speaker 2: They pog you down. These kids, you got two of them.
Speaker 2: Hang the surfboards up, mate. Serious.
Speaker 1: One of the hard things though, when you've just come
Speaker 1: out of childbirth as parents is that it's such a rollercoaster.
Speaker 1: You had this really intense high where like I remember
Speaker 1: being in tears holding my daughter for the first time,
Speaker 1: and then the reality of parenting really creeps in. You know,
Speaker 1: you've got sleepless nights, You've got this baby that's crying.
Speaker 1: You have no idea what's wrong with it because you're
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out. Was there any part of
Speaker 1: having a newborn that you thought, shit, this is so
Speaker 1: much harder than I thought.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: No, Like I guess, traveling the world all the time,
Speaker 3: I was always used to the jetlag. This is a
Speaker 3: different kind of jetlag because if you sleep an extra minute,
Speaker 3: then it could be the death of your child, so
Speaker 3: you've got to get up. But that's how I sort
Speaker 3: of looked at it. But Breeze just so across everything,
Speaker 3: and she was just just so well read and so
Speaker 3: ready to be a mom.
Speaker 2: Did you do the parenting classes?
Speaker 3: I did, good boy. Yeah we did hypno birthing.
Speaker 2: In person or during COVID, she would have been pre.
Speaker 3: Through cod Birthing is all about breathing and just you know,
Speaker 3: talking about the woman's body is made perfectly for the baby.
Speaker 1: When you're in the class, what's your role? They go
Speaker 1: to sleep.
Speaker 3: Exactly old serving and always come back and towards the
Speaker 3: end of the class every time they would do it
Speaker 3: like a meditation. It's all that's.
Speaker 2: I can see Matt picturing as the guy goes and
Speaker 2: you're back in the room.
Speaker 1: Just the heavy breathing coming from the corner where Micase.
Speaker 2: Guys he's a world Champion's funny.
Speaker 3: It's just Yeah, it's just all about positive reinforcement. Yeah,
Speaker 3: but was was a warrior through birth. She would be
Speaker 3: asleep in between contractions. That's about as she was.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she was like I always thought that I could
Speaker 3: get in the zone like being.
Speaker 2: Did she get the drugs not? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: She was incredible And we had to, you know, start going, hey,
Speaker 3: you got to start moving.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, she just really zened out on that.
Speaker 3: She was gone.
Speaker 1: It's it's wild, isn't it. Guys have got it so
Speaker 1: damn good.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But the hardest thing I had to do was I
Speaker 1: missed out of my.
Speaker 2: Have you have you ever zipped a fly up on
Speaker 2: the old fellow? Mate? We don't have.
Speaker 3: So Xander's three now will be three next month.
Speaker 1: And how do you find the terrible two's and the
Speaker 1: toddler versus a newborn newborn?
Speaker 3: Like everyone says it's going to get is he? It's
Speaker 3: such a lie.
Speaker 2: The ship thing about being a new dad or a
Speaker 2: new parent is that they go after three months, there's
Speaker 2: so much better than it's like, after six months, there's
Speaker 2: so much better. When does it end? It's always changed
Speaker 2: before and it's like, oh, sometimes I look at ask
Speaker 2: and I'm like, oh my god, why why are you
Speaker 2: making a mess on the fucking floor.
Speaker 3: Just gotta let go.
Speaker 1: What's he into at the moment.
Speaker 3: He loves just cartoons, trucks and just swords. I swear
Speaker 3: he's like a Nina or a warrior from past life
Speaker 3: because he just gets a sword or he turns anything
Speaker 3: into a sword and just wax and.
Speaker 2: Keep him away from that knife, draw mane.
Speaker 1: He knows not to touch night if he puts Baby
Speaker 1: Shark on and you're like, turn.
Speaker 2: Off, traumatized from the baby Shark.
Speaker 3: I'm pretty good. I don't really I don't really get
Speaker 3: two PHAs on all that sort of stuff, Like my
Speaker 3: I haven't listened to my music or a podcast or
Speaker 3: in the car forever because it's either an email or
Speaker 3: Mickey Mouse.
Speaker 2: Ye Wiggles or cocoa melon.
Speaker 3: We don't do coco melon. Coca melon is a problem.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, But once they get like hooked in,
Speaker 2: you can't get them up. Look, honestly, we always talk
Speaker 2: about this on the podcast that YouTube is the best
Speaker 2: parent at that age because it's just like they just
Speaker 2: you get so much done when they're.
Speaker 1: Do you find that your parenting style is similar to
Speaker 1: that of your mum or how you were raised.
Speaker 3: I think if Bree wasn't around, it would be. But
Speaker 3: Bree's just so calm and so patient, and she's taught
Speaker 3: me so much, like, you know, stop crying, there's nothing
Speaker 3: cried out. Let's go. She would talk through it and
Speaker 3: this and that. So I'm learning and we're just sort
Speaker 3: of we're doing like a challenge and you have to
Speaker 3: read a self help book and I'm reading a parenting book.
Speaker 1: What can you teach us to teach?
Speaker 3: Just patience?
Speaker 2: Both of us can't read unless it's like video phim.
Speaker 3: It's more about just listening and be patient. Like that's
Speaker 3: the most I'm getting out of this is that kids
Speaker 3: and toddlers don't have any sense of time. They just
Speaker 3: act on what's in front of them. And as adults
Speaker 3: and parents, we sort of act and react around time.
Speaker 3: So it's it's like, all right, we've got to go,
Speaker 3: We've got to do this, We've got to do that,
Speaker 3: where they just think, I don't care what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, working on my time, Yeah.
Speaker 3: I want to watch more. I want to keep playing. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And we always in our house, we're always like you know,
Speaker 2: when we talk about oh, you know, one more minute,
Speaker 2: five more minutes, Oscar. Now he would just be like,
Speaker 2: has no idea what five minutes means. But if I
Speaker 2: say get off there about five more minutes, give a
Speaker 2: shit either. Yeah, they're just in their own in their
Speaker 2: own world.
Speaker 1: One thing that a lot of people say to me
Speaker 1: with two girls, and they're both pretty wild even at
Speaker 1: four and two, is that when they're teenagers, it's going
Speaker 1: to be really tricky for yourself. And I thought, as
Speaker 1: someone who's got the old ego eugene, what would be
Speaker 1: the best way to parent a eugene? Like, if my
Speaker 1: children have their old egos, how should I manage that?
Speaker 3: Oh? You just tell them just be careful and learn
Speaker 3: from your mistakes.
Speaker 2: That's sound solid advice. That was like when you got
Speaker 2: in trouble as a youngster with your mum, how would
Speaker 2: she react? What sort of mum was she when you
Speaker 2: were doing the wrong thing?
Speaker 3: It depends if if we came and told her that
Speaker 3: we did the wrong thing.
Speaker 1: And would you be honest and tell her.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, wow, I hid everything from Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was just more of the fact that should look
Speaker 3: at it and just go, well, was that the right
Speaker 3: thing to do?
Speaker 1: And we're like not very self reflective.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but then there would other times if she caught
Speaker 3: us in the act, then we'll get a slap in
Speaker 3: the head.
Speaker 2: She's got both sides covered.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, it's one of those things. It's like, you know,
Speaker 3: I think parenting is sort of almost like if you
Speaker 3: tell your mate, I don't do that, stop carrying on,
Speaker 3: Like if they had a couple of beers or whatever,
Speaker 3: they just don't want to do it more totally. And
Speaker 3: I feel like that's what kids are like, so you
Speaker 3: just go with it. Yeah, keep going on the floor.
Speaker 2: On the floor.
Speaker 1: We put the call out to the listeners for any
Speaker 1: questions to ask yourself, and I'm not making this up.
Speaker 1: One of the most common questions was as a parent,
Speaker 1: have you ever been shut on? Have you had to
Speaker 1: deal with the poon army from the baby?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, yeah. The video just came up the other
Speaker 3: day because I had to fly away and Breathe was
Speaker 3: showing the baby videos and his favorite video now is
Speaker 3: watching himself shot on me.
Speaker 1: Was it at home though?
Speaker 2: Safe you please?
Speaker 3: Yeah? He went all up me. Oh and then he
Speaker 3: started pissing on me too, just sitting there filming the
Speaker 3: whole there's nothing.
Speaker 2: There's nothing that for that too. You're like, holy shit.
Speaker 3: Laterally, yeah, I'm not a germaphobe or anything like that,
Speaker 3: but when it's all over, you're just like, can I
Speaker 3: get some help? Yeah, you're just sitting there.
Speaker 2: Last take this child off me. It's crazy, Like I
Speaker 2: feel like everyone's got a shit on story. Like it's
Speaker 2: just one of those things. It's becomes part of parenting,
Speaker 2: one thing that you've sort of done to us and
Speaker 2: to other dads. You set the bar really high with
Speaker 2: the when your kid grows up and it's like, my
Speaker 2: dad's stronger than your dad. Your son's always got that. Well,
Speaker 2: my dad punched a shark, so thank you for that.
Speaker 3: I've actually just been talking about that recently just because
Speaker 3: Jay has been on. But funny story, I walked into
Speaker 3: daycare one day and he's like, my dad punched shark.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, he said it, you're already onto it
Speaker 3: he said it. I'm like, who the hell told him that?
Speaker 3: Because I hadn't spoken to him about it. And then
Speaker 3: I was like, did you tell him the story or whatever?
Speaker 3: And she's like, oh, sorry, sure you do it. And
Speaker 3: then and then he forgot about it and then just
Speaker 3: recently was sort of been talking about it, and he's like,
Speaker 3: in fact, he's got a little stuff shark and no
Speaker 3: way and he hit me in the head, and you're like,
Speaker 3: and I talked about it, and I was like, but
Speaker 3: I don't tell him that, you know, I don't look
Speaker 3: at that punch. Sorry got dominated by shark. But I
Speaker 3: telled him that I got hit in the head by
Speaker 3: a shark. And he's like, oh, yeah, my dad, and
Speaker 3: he will go and tell everyone just big shark comes along.
Speaker 1: There any daycare teacher. He's not familiar with your story.
Speaker 1: She'd like, Xander, that's not true. People don't get hit
Speaker 1: in the head with shark.
Speaker 2: It is looking up. That's true. It's funny because I
Speaker 2: said to my son last night, I left so early
Speaker 2: this morning. I was like, I'm going away tomorrow. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to be here, trying to tell him why
Speaker 2: I'm not going to be here, So I'm going to
Speaker 2: meet somebody punched a shark his face because he's obsessed
Speaker 2: with like he's got these toy sharks. He just couldn't believe,
Speaker 2: like because couldn't quite comprehend it. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: It's a lot for a four year old for a
Speaker 1: four year old, and.
Speaker 2: We were with Jbay just finishing up yesterday and I
Speaker 2: was like, I'll just have a look at the past
Speaker 2: winners of the comp as you do, and it was
Speaker 2: obviously goes through the list of winners and it's funny
Speaker 2: on Wikipedia. I don't know if you've seen it on Wikipedia,
Speaker 2: it's twenty fifteen where the winner is it says shark.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like, well, true, technically it did win. I
Speaker 2: had to abandon it. But I was just like, and
Speaker 2: then it's got You've gone back the next year, And
Speaker 2: obviously I do vividly remember watching it.
Speaker 3: You winning.
Speaker 2: It was like the whole country was behind you, which
Speaker 2: is crazy, but yeah, I don't know how many people
Speaker 2: would have been jeering on that shark that day winning,
Speaker 2: Jbay are crazy.
Speaker 3: Did you see the footage just on Nathan Florence?
Speaker 2: Is that the one following, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 3: Pretty much what happened in mine. So they'd come up
Speaker 3: from the bottom of the point and go all the
Speaker 3: way out, Yeah, and they're just cruising like they're not
Speaker 3: there to eat, They're just there to they commute.
Speaker 2: Because yeah, in twenty sixteen, the same the year after
Speaker 2: they had to stop the comp that I remember, and
Speaker 2: they were following a massive great white like it was
Speaker 2: just exactly a year later. It's like that time of year.
Speaker 2: It must be very Yeah, I've never been to South Africa.
Speaker 2: I'm sure it's like that all the time, but how
Speaker 2: we see it that one time a year and I
Speaker 2: remember this jet ski following it up vividly, remember how
Speaker 2: big it was next to this jet ski, and then
Speaker 2: it's just happened again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's wild.
Speaker 2: It is wild, like it's one of those places, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I had it happened to me, and I think
Speaker 3: it was twenty seventeen. I was in a heat with
Speaker 3: Gabe Medina and I was getting flogged. I saw the
Speaker 3: skis starting to come towards us, which is said, is
Speaker 3: that ja And I saw him coming. I'm like, please, please,
Speaker 3: where's a set? Where's a set? Where's a set? Because
Speaker 3: I wanted to It was towards the end of the heat. Anyway,
Speaker 3: you like, get Gabe and I think, just let me
Speaker 3: catch away and go in so I don't.
Speaker 2: Have to be a Brazilian barbecue.
Speaker 3: But got us on the I'm just just take me in.
Speaker 3: I'm getting combat.
Speaker 2: He's done like four eras I was just.
Speaker 3: Saying I have to do more media and crap.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's last thing I want to do.
Speaker 3: Nick.
Speaker 1: I know your your time is precious. You've got a
Speaker 1: busy day, So I just want to say thank you
Speaker 1: so much for sitting down with Ashing myself. I still
Speaker 1: don't know how I do it, how you've done this,
Speaker 1: how he's managed to lock you in, But it's best
Speaker 1: if I just don't ask questions.
Speaker 2: Don't ask questions.
Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time connection somehow.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Just on the back of that, Yeah, thank you so
Speaker 2: much for having us sitting down and chat with us.
Speaker 2: You know, a career, dad, retirement, all that stuff. Letting
Speaker 2: me give you my favorite movie of yours and you
Speaker 2: can ferish forever.
Speaker 1: If you're missing any possessions from your house, it definitely
Speaker 1: wasn't us count your cutlery drawer. No, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And if you've enjoyed this episode, of course, give us
Speaker 1: a follow review, hey five stars if you want, and
Speaker 1: let us know if there's any other doting dads or
Speaker 1: mums that you would like us to interview. And Ash,
Speaker 1: I reckon, we should probably get out of here, absolutely
Speaker 1: go for serve.
Speaker 2: Thanks again, Mat appreciate it, guys enjoyed.
Speaker 1: Thank you Mu,