Clay Marzo Makes Bid For G-Land Wildcard
“I’m all for it. Teahupoo also” – Kelly Slater
Clay Marzo is making a bid for the 2022 G-Land wildcard.
Per his latest IG: “I saw that the @wsl is having a contest at G Land in a few months. A big long barreling left. I would love to get the wildcard into that event. Who thinks Wsl should give me the wildcard? I am ready to battle the world’s best in the barrel. Let’s do this !“ Since then 700 people have commented in support of the motion, among them 11x World Champ, Kelly Slater who wrote, “I’m all for it. Teahupoo also.”
Clay Marzo’s 2008 biographic film ‘Just Add Water’ featuring Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, and Dane Reynolds was an instant hit that garnered attention from both inside and outside of the surfing world. Following its release, Clay was profiled by Nightline and Rolling Stone as an example of a reluctant superstar, whose savant-like skillset ironically drew more attention to his reticent personality. As a grom your author copied Clay’s signature hand-rubbing, one of his compulsive habits he does whenever he gets nervous or excited, in the hope that it would channel some of his clairvoyant superpowers.
Family and friends had long known that Clay was “different” (teachers were mostly of the opinion that he was “difficult”). It wasn’t until 2007, at the behest of a Quiksilver marketing staffer, that Marzo was diagnosed with Asperger’s, which is also called “high-functioning autism.”
In 2012 Quiksilver chose not to renew his sponsorship, after he proved incredibly difficult to market. Interviews, travel, crowds, were all things to be avoided. With backing from a few smaller companies, Clay has continued as the sport’s foremost recluse-genius, dropping out of sight for months at a time, then showing up in a mind-boggling video clip, nearly always wearing only boardshorts even in the midst of freezing cold winter waters. In February this year, Clay was spotted in Peniche driving through Supertubos funnels in just trunks. The water temperature was 15.3°C (59.5°F).
Clay is unarguably one of the best frontside tuberiders in the world with a preternatural ability to predict what a wave will do and toy with it using his myriad of complex stalls and stances. If he were to catch waves during the heat window at one of the globe’s great barrelling lefts, it would likely be an incredibly entertaining showcase of technical frontside tube riding.
What you reckon, WSL?
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