Quiksilver

Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater is the World Surfing Champion for the 11th time in his career. At 39 years old, the Quiksilver team surfer has won his latest World Title in San Francisco (USA) before the end of the 2011 season, during the 10th and penultimate ASP World Tour event. This 11th historic crown marks a season highlighted by 3 wins (Gold Coast, Tahiti, Trestles) bringing his number of elite victories to 48; an incredible record in the surfing world and a rare feat in sport at the highest level.

Still at the top of his game after spending 20 years in the elite, Kelly Slater adds a new world title to his immense track record that continues to defy statistics. Never has the competition been so fierce on the elite circuit, although the rivalry is different from the years with Andy Irons or Mick Fanning. The next generation of new school surfers who are increasingly radical, such as Owen Wright and Adriano De Souza challenged in the 2011 world rankings, as well as Julian Wilson and Gabriel Medina who have the motivation to beat the supreme master. Not forgetting the top names Jordy Smith, Jeremy Flores and Michel Bourez.

His Secret? Firstly a talent bordering on genius but also a sense of strategy, reading the wave like no one else, a phenomenal ability to adapt, the temperament of a competitor which matches the greatest champions and finally exceptional physical conditioning. Above all else a passion for free-surfing. Always on the lookout for the swell of the year, he is able to cross the globe on a whim to surf great waves, dropping everything including a World Championship event.. (like at Jeffrey's Bay this year). For Kelly Slater, surfing is visceral and has certainly given him the ability to reinvent himself, he is still, at nearly 40 years old, the absolute reference point in his sport.

Dane Reynolds

Watching Dane Reynolds surf is incredible. He's ridiculously creative. He boosts over the lip on nearly every wave, and does a huge variety of insanely fast and stylishly tweaked power airs. He's exciting beyond belief, because you never know what he's going to do next. His spectacular surfing has made him one of the most popular professional surfers in the world, and he regularly ranks no. 1 on the media's exposure metre.

He thoroughly impressed Slater on the boat trips for the filming of the Young Guns movies, and won the "Tube of Year" at the 2005 Surfer Poll Awards.

If you don't believe the hype, watch his incredible film "First Chapter", which won "Best Male Performance in a Video" as well as "Video of the Year" at the 2006 Surfer Poll Awards. All of the top pros are basically terrified of the young man since he's beaten 3x World Champion Andy Irons and 2001 World Champion CJ Hobgood in man-on-man heats. Andy even proclaimed him as "the best free surfer in the world". How heavy is that?

All the attention and acclaim hasn't swelled Dane's head or made him cocky. He's a quiet, humble, friendly yet reserved guy, who loves listening to Indie Rock music.

Dane toured on the WQS circuit and by 2007 he placed second place on the WQS rankings. Qualification marked his arrival on the big stage. He has the talent and ability to beat the toughest rivals. Even for professionals, surfing against him in competition remains a fearful prospect.

Craig Anderson

In a sea seemingly awash with homogenised surfing talent, Craig Anderson is a true stand-out. His stylish nuances have won him praise in an era that typically sees surfers making a name for themselves either via senseless big-wave bravado or a string of ho-hum contest results. Ando's surfing is often compared to another goofy-foot; 90s style-King, Rob Machado, and this is something Ando has absolutely no problem with.

" I love the way Rob Machado surfs. I've always watched sections of him in Taylor's [Steele] old movies" he says. And no matter what he's doing - throwing himself over the ledge at Pipe in Hawaii, or hurling himself into wedging ramps at South Straddie or beachbreaks in South Africa, Ando's innate flair is what sets him apart - time and time again.

His win in the second annual Waves Magazine "Black Knight" awards is testament to this. Determined by Waves readers and the mag's staff, the Black Knight Awards is designed to heap praise on the greatest free-surfer in all the Land.

Though Ando has tasted sweet victory in the competition jersey, climbing to the top of the pro junior heap with a win at Gunnamatta, in Victoria, his trajectory suggests 25 minutes heats scrapping for waves in front of a panel of a judges might best be left to others.

"I find when I don't even care, I surf better. Or when I'm not trying, I've had my best results. Just trying to relax, letting it flow, is best," explains Ando.

In early 2009, Ando, as a face of the Ramones campaign for Quiksilver, appeared in a music film clip with Kram from Spiderbait, which was filmed on Victoria's south-west coast.

JEREMY FLORES

He has been surfing every day since the age of 3 under the guidance of his father Patrick Flores who, over the years, has played a major role in Jeremy's development as a competitive surfer. Jeremy and his family have spent long periods of time in Australia on Sydney's Northern beaches, whole summers in Europe and notched up a string of seasons in Hawaii. Jeremy maintained his academic commitments through correspondence schooling and still found time to surf the amazing surfing venues of the globe. This worldly young surfer has had an unconventional upbringing but it has enabled Jeremy to experience life in different countries and cultures and has helped him to feel totally at ease on the World Tour.

His career and personality are exceptional in more ways than one. Jeremy is not only the youngest surfer ever to break into the professional elite of world male surfers, but during his first year on tour he was the only European in the Top 45 of the ASP World Tour traditionally consisting mainly of Australians, Americans, Brazilians and South Africans. Did this leave Jeremy feeling slightly isolated? Apparently not. Jeremy kicked off the 2007 season with an impressive 9th place at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, Australia. This set the tone for what was to follow, as he went on to eliminate 8-times World Champion Kelly Slater at the Billabong Pro Teahupoo Event and then finished 3rd at the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles. His great results earned his 'Rookie of the Year' title and a 9th place finish on the ASP World Tour. Jeremy started strongly in his 2008 season with a huge 3rd place at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and he remains comfortably in the Top 10 of the world's best surfers with a 3rd place at the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles and a 2nd place at Hang Loose Pro Santa Catarina (best result in his career).

Nowadays Jeremy spends a lot of his off time at his new house in Capbreton France. It has been the testing ground for many of his boards that he has developed over the years with his shaper Mark Phipps. The Jeremy Flores surfboard model is the result of years of research and development undertaken during Jeremy's growth years – in terms of his physique, surfing abilities, and maturity. The Jeremy Flores model is a high performance board catering for those seeking to advance their surfing to a more critical and extreme level.

Being of a highly driven nature and a very passionate competitor he is showing the world that he plans to make a long and fruitful career out of competitive surfing. Jeremy is, without doubt, well on his way to fulfilling his ambition to become a World Champion surfer.