Nat Young, North Narrabeen, Australia

Young Santa Cruz hot-dogger Nat Young is on Australia’s East Coast presently for the Billabong World Junior Championships. Mid-afternoon yesterday, he swaggered into the competitor’s area with a smile on his face and slapped a couple of high-fives. In fact, Nat was rarely seen yesterday without a smile on his face. Whether it was walking down for his heat, wandering around the car-park or strolling through the rain after a freesurf, the corners of Nat’s mouth were always pointed up. The one time his grin may have subsided was in moments of concentration during his round three heat against Hawaiian Keanu Asing. But post-heat, the grin was straight back on. Especially since Nat won the heat and advanced to the next round.

This high-speed finer, shot by Jack Jeffress, is a moment of clarity through the blur of the rain and the speed of the spin. Nat may not be smiling here, but he sure is flaring.