Jordy Smith Superfreak!
In early 2006 an 18-year-old South African by the name of Jordan Michael Smith appeared in Surfer magazine’s ‘Hot 100’ special edition.
The editors of the famous surfing pamphlet ranked Jordy a respectable eighth. They also referred to his debut video performance - the opening segment in Billabong’s Passion Pop - as “The second coming of Parko”.
Yet despite such praise, Jordy’s position could have seemed a tad high to the casual observer, especially considering his lack of experience and unknown status outside of his home country.
But if you were lucky enough to catch him freesurfing around that time, you too would have realised the kid’s potential. When someone who is still too young to drink in a pub can alternate air reverses, tube rides and lip thwacking, spray-flinging hacks down the line with a mature style beyond his years, he’s surely destined for greatness.
It is no coincidence his nickname is Superfreak.
Yet word of his incredible surfing abilities had yet to spread significantly. Besides world amateur surfing circles, where he had already snatched a couple of world titles and assorted junior crowns, he remained an enigma.
But not for long. Surf hacks first began paying attention following a third-place finish at the hyper-competitive Billabong World Championship Tour (WCT) event at Jeffrey’s Bay. His performance, which included multiple airs and massive carves, also elevated him to the status of the next potential prodigal son – and promoted him to realm of comparisons with King Kelly himself. Not bad for a teenager who cites reading Harry Potter books and making amateur movies as his downtime hobbies.
Through the remainder of the year Jordy beat more WCT surfers to take the ISA World Title in Huntington Beach, California, and then ended fifth at the Haleiwa Op Pro in Hawaii. He then got another fifth at Sunset in the Xcel Pro and held the runner-up trophy next to Parko at the O’Neill World Cup, also at Sunset. The sequence of results got him the Vans Triple Crown Rookie of the year accolade.
But Jordy wanted more. And he went on to win the Billabong ASP World Pro Junior Title at Narrabeen, Australia, this past January. Victory in that contest, often regarded as the soothsayer of events when it comes to determining future world titles, was one of the sweetest for Jordy, who admits to not having achieved a good result in Australia for some time.
Jordy, who says he listens to The Beatles to relax before heats, will be doing the World Qualifying Series (WQS) full time in 2007 and should easily qualify for the WCT in 2008, where he will get the chance to fulfil his ambition to be world champion.
Despite the results, the young South African recognises how lucky he is and tries not to trip too hard on his talent, but also knows he rips and is not afraid to do what it takes to win. Not only is he super talented, he has the steady support of his accomplished surfboard-shaper dad Graham and manager mum Luellen, which he reckons helps keep him grounded. “My dad always tells me: don’t get a big head and stay humble and you’ll be all right,” says Jordy. “And so I just stick to that and hope it all turns out good in the end.”
This kind of attitude is but one of the parallels that can be drawn between Kelly Slater and he who will (probably) be King. Both are natural footed and combine power, functional technical progression and smooth, aesthetic flow. Both come from humble backgrounds. Both are competitive machines and want to win everything.
And, freakish as it sounds, both also share the same birth date, albeit 16 years apart. “I guess it’s just a coincidence, one of those things,” he says. No doubt pesky media types will dwell on the astral coincidence from now on. But his response reveals a pragmatic approach and a level head that seems focused on only one thing: winning contests with the highest levels of surfing performance he can muster: “I’m just there for a reason and that is to do my job, which is to try and beat everybody. I don’t really care who they are.”
Whatever the future holds, Jordy Smith will weave his particular brand of surfing magic on the world for many years to come.
This story originally appeared in Huck #004.
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