Gabriel and Charles Medina, San Francisco, US

Gabriel Medina is surfing’s odd future. ‘Focused’ doesn’t do it justice. He travels with his pops Charles. He drinks hydrating drinks at night, not beer. He watches every heat. Which you can see him doing here – standing with Charlie, watching closely, taking notes, discussing stratagem. And whatever else he’s doing is working. This morning Gabs won the Rip Curl Search, San Francisco. He took a very similar route to the one he did in France – at both events, he beat Kelly Slater in the quarters, Taylor Knox in the semis, then won the final (scoring 17 points in France and 16.50 in San Fran). “Gabriel was on point all event,” said Joel. “He’s probably one of the most talented surfers I’ve ever seen, I think. He’s got a huge future and he’s going to be exciting to watch over the next few years.”

It’s hard to tell over the language barrier, but Gabs may have also taken some notes from Kelly Slater on how best to play coy: “I don’t know, it’s incredible. Actually, I don’t know what I did, you know? I can’t believe it. I won the contest! I won two comps on the WT and it’s been great. I’m having fun on the tour and I’ve been doing good. I’ve been training a lot. I just try to go out there and try to go big. I love to surf, I love what I do.”

In the final, Gabs only rode three waves. A 5.50, a 7.50 and a 9.00. What else do you need to do?