Jordy Smith, Rainbow Place warm-up, Gold Coast

Jordy Smith is in the zone before his heats. His headphones are an immovable fixture til he reaches waters’ edge. He takes ’em off for no one. After some star jumps in his room (in this case, the Rainbow Place apartments just above Snapper Rocks), Jordy then heads down to the contest site. After stomping around the competitor’s area, maybe jumping on the exercise bike momentarily, he puts on his leash and walks down the sand (he’s one of, if not the only competitor to attach leash before hitting the sand). He doesn’t wait for his caddy/trainer – he hot-foots it down the sand with Garth Tarlow and/or Jarrad Howse. At the Quiksilver Pro, Gold Coast, Jordy fell in the semis to eventual contest winner Taj Burrow. But, the heat before that one, Jordy took down Joel Parkinson. This shot was taken just before that quarterfinal. He’s so in his own world that, even though it’s playing on the TV behind him, he ain’t watching the heat before his.