Stab Magazine | Adriano de Souza is the 2015 World Surfing Champ

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

322 Views

Adriano de Souza is the 2015 World Surfing Champ

Words by Elliot Struck Adriano de Souza is your 2015 World Champ. Fairy tales don’t come true, and while all eyes, and momentum, were with Mick Fanning, Adriano won a deserved world title in the only fashion that he could have, or should have: As a sheer, determined work horse. After yesterday’s heroics, it was bizarre to watch so intense a title race unfold in such underwhelming waves. But, that’s the reality of surfing. When we reached the biz end of the event, Adriano’s objective was simple: Finish one place ahead of Mick. And at scrappy Backdoor, that’s exactly what he did. No one can say Adriano isn’t a deserving champ. He’s as silently committed, as steely, as determined as is required to win a title. Adriano was raised in a Sao Paulo favela, and when competitive success and its financial benefits found him, he built beachfront apartments and moved his entire family into them. When he claims, it is genuine, because he needs to win. “I’m a worker. I’m not a famous surfer.” Adriano’s title push started when he finished third at Snapper. He then tied with Mick in the final of the Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach, losing on a countback, before going on to win the next event, the Drug Aware Pro, Margaret River. The two would meet again in a final, this time at Lowers, with Mick winning a second time. A third in France kept Adriano in the mix. And then, he landed in Hawaii, and it emerged that Ads was under the Pipeline tutelage of Jamie O’Brien (who’d eventually chair him up the beach, twice). And, it’s shown. After beating Mason Ho in the semis, Adriano made it to the final, with Mick being eliminated by Gabriel Medina in the prior heat via a 6.50 frontside full rote on a windy Pipe left. And that was that. Adriano De Souza is your 2015 World Champion. “It’s an incredible feeling. Special dedication to my good brother Ricardo Dos Santos, I have this tattoo in memory of his life, he had the same tattoo in the same spot, and it says Strength, Balance, and Love. That’s all I needed this year to win this world title. At the middle point of the title race, I thought Mick deserved it more than me. He’s such a strong man and a three time world champ, when there’s people fighting for their first one. I wish so much I could give a hug to Mick’s mum. “The (best) day of my life has arrived. I don’t know if I have power enough to make the final against the defending world champ (Gabriel). In my memory, all the time I see Gabriel giving me the trophy in my hands, and now we have a final together. I need to have a break, and a Red Bull, and back out there I guess. “When I lost in Portugal I was so sad inside, I looked at myself and said, that was the chance for the world title. Then I saw Mick once after that and he said, “Don’t worry Adriano, the champ will be decided at Pipe.” I looked at him and said, “You have more chance than me.” But it all came together, I’ve dedicated so much to this. Jamie (O’Brien) has helped me, Jason Frederico, all the boys at home and here. “And I want to dedicate this world title to my brother. He bought me my first surfboard for $7. And I’m on top of the world, with $7. For him at that time, $7 was too much money, but he bought me my first surfboard with it.” Photo: WSL/Laurent Masurel

news // Mar 8, 2016
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Words by Elliot Struck

Adriano de Souza is your 2015 World Champ.

Fairy tales don’t come true, and while all eyes, and momentum, were with Mick Fanning, Adriano won a deserved world title in the only fashion that he could have, or should have: As a sheer, determined work horse.

After yesterday’s heroics, it was bizarre to watch so intense a title race unfold in such underwhelming waves. But, that’s the reality of surfing. When we reached the biz end of the event, Adriano’s objective was simple: Finish one place ahead of Mick. And at scrappy Backdoor, that’s exactly what he did.

No one can say Adriano isn’t a deserving champ. He’s as silently committed, as steely, as determined as is required to win a title. Adriano was raised in a Sao Paulo favela, and when competitive success and its financial benefits found him, he built beachfront apartments and moved his entire family into them. When he claims, it is genuine, because he needs to win. “I’m a worker. I’m not a famous surfer.”

Adriano’s title push started when he finished third at Snapper. He then tied with Mick in the final of the Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach, losing on a countback, before going on to win the next event, the Drug Aware Pro, Margaret River. The two would meet again in a final, this time at Lowers, with Mick winning a second time. A third in France kept Adriano in the mix. And then, he landed in Hawaii, and it emerged that Ads was under the Pipeline tutelage of Jamie O’Brien (who’d eventually chair him up the beach, twice). And, it’s shown. After beating Mason Ho in the semis, Adriano made it to the final, with Mick being eliminated by Gabriel Medina in the prior heat via a 6.50 frontside full rote on a windy Pipe left. And that was that. Adriano De Souza is your 2015 World Champion.

“It’s an incredible feeling. Special dedication to my good brother Ricardo Dos Santos, I have this tattoo in memory of his life, he had the same tattoo in the same spot, and it says Strength, Balance, and Love. That’s all I needed this year to win this world title. At the middle point of the title race, I thought Mick deserved it more than me. He’s such a strong man and a three time world champ, when there’s people fighting for their first one. I wish so much I could give a hug to Mick’s mum.

“The (best) day of my life has arrived. I don’t know if I have power enough to make the final against the defending world champ (Gabriel). In my memory, all the time I see Gabriel giving me the trophy in my hands, and now we have a final together. I need to have a break, and a Red Bull, and back out there I guess.

“When I lost in Portugal I was so sad inside, I looked at myself and said, that was the chance for the world title. Then I saw Mick once after that and he said, “Don’t worry Adriano, the champ will be decided at Pipe.” I looked at him and said, “You have more chance than me.” But it all came together, I’ve dedicated so much to this. Jamie (O’Brien) has helped me, Jason Frederico, all the boys at home and here.

“And I want to dedicate this world title to my brother. He bought me my first surfboard for $7. And I’m on top of the world, with $7. For him at that time, $7 was too much money, but he bought me my first surfboard with it.”

Photo: WSL/Laurent Masurel

Photo: WSL/Laurent Masurel

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025
Advertisement