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Dane Reynolds, round one tunnel, France

Did it excite you? Not only to see Dane Reynolds stroll down a French beach in a contest jersey, but also to then paddle out and beat Joel Parkinson and Bede Durbidge in round one at the Quiksilver Pro, France? Did it? After pulling the pin on the WT at the end of last year, the Venturan’s made a few brief appearances in contest environments since – being the Quik Pro, Gold Coast, the Nike Lowers Pro, the US Open of Surfing and, right now, the Quik Pro at Hossegor on the Landes coast.

Dane, finding his own zone and picking running barrels off consistently, liked the fact that he could do his own thing. “It’s nice and spread out so Joel and Bede were kind of down on their own peak and I was up on my own peak which is always nice. I’m not much of a hassler.”

He then breezed over an interest in how his surfing responded to a jersey’d situation. “Competition is fun for me and I don’t put pressure on myself to do well. I do like to see how I perform in this environment though and that’s why I do these.”

The remainder of round one, and then round two, will run in a few hours’ time if the waves are on. Which, if you’re so inclined, you can watch here.

Photographer profile

Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller, 33 years old, does not know how to write a bad email. Your pals at Stab have learnt to live vicariously through Miller’s red wine-fuelled letters from the road. His travels take him to some dreamy locales and, in those places, he scores all-time photos: “My favourite photo I’ve shot was of Benny Bourgeois in the Caribbean, with a fisheye. Often I just take photos, but rarely do I get to make one.” In an age of tail-highs and released fins, Ryan still most likes to shoot someone who can lay-down a big backside turn. Namely: Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, Gabe Kling, Kekoa Bacalso, Damien Hobgood and Peter Mendia. Like most photogs, Miller misses Scott Aichner’s work. But, as far as contemporary inspiration? “Trying to see things through my daughter’s eyes. It’s wild to think about someone experiencing something totally new on almost a daily basis when, as adults, we rarely get to experience something truly new.”

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