Stab Magazine | How Mick Fanning Won The 2013 World Title

Live now: How Surfers Get Paid, Season Finale

289 Views

How Mick Fanning Won The 2013 World Title

And, that’s it. Mick Fanning is officially the 2013 ASP World Champion. What moment does it come down to? Did it begin with his good pal, Joel Parkinson, winning the world title last year and reigniting something within Mick? Would it still have happened if Mick had lost a heat earlier in Bells, Tahiti, Portugal, […]

news // Mar 8, 2016
Words by stab
Reading Time: 2 minutes

And, that’s it. Mick Fanning is officially the 2013 ASP World Champion.
Fuel_TV_Insert
What moment does it come down to? Did it begin with his good pal, Joel Parkinson, winning the world title last year and reigniting something within Mick? Would it still have happened if Mick had lost a heat earlier in Bells, Tahiti, Portugal, or elsewhere? Does it come down to Mick having the foresight to drop in on John John Florence in round four, thereby putting himself against CJ Hobgood and Yadin Nicol, rather than Julian Wilson and, more importantly, John John Florence again? Or, in the first heat of the final morning, with one minute and thirty-five seconds remaining and trailing CJ Hobgood, when Mick rolled into, casually bottom turned under, and burned through the heat’s most perfect wave for a 9.50?

Or most importantly, against Yadin Nicol, in the final seconds of his quarterfinal, when Mick needed a 9.57 he drove through a clean barrel to scoop 9.70 points and win the world title.

It isn’t just one of these things, but all of them, and a whole lot more. And now, Mick Fanning is a World Champion for the third time, and Kelly Slater is not a world champion for the twelfth time.

“The world title is something that takes a whole year, but sometimes it can feel like it boils down to the final day and the final heats,” said Mick. “I’m sure I gave my wife Karissa and my mum enough stress today to last a lifetime. I was never worried myself now that I think of it. I knew what I needed to do and if the opportunity came, I knew I could do it. That opportunity came in both heats today. It’s an incredible feeling. I’ve been having fun all year and to clinch on a day like this at Pipeline makes it that much more special.”

Kelly, obviously deflated, managed to maintain graciousness in defeat. “I’m excited for Mick – it was an exciting finish,” said the Floridian. “Mick has been focused all year. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly where my year didn’t stack up. I got hurt in Tahiti and probably should have rehabbed more before Trestles. I didn’t surf very well through Europe. A world title is a yearlong thing. It was a great year for surfing and I’m excited we get to wrap up in great waves at Pipeline.”

Above is a glance in the rearview mirror, at the most important moments that led to the big one.

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

Sun Room: The Overnight Success Of A Young Surf Band

What's it like touring the world and living off of McDonald's?

Mar 25, 2023

How Surfers Get Paid, Episode 6

An instructional manual for the modern professional surfer

Mar 23, 2023

7:03

Caity Simmers — Extreme Competitive Surf Vlogger

Cool is chemical.

Mar 23, 2023

Globe Pulls Out Of The Apparel Game

…and, Taj Burrow and Dion Agius are now looking for new main sponsors.

Mar 22, 2023

Owen Wright Announces Retirement From Competitive And Heavy-Water Surfing

But will surf final CT event at Bells.

Mar 22, 2023

29:05

Fancy An Ale, Some Good Music, And A Bunch Of Tubes?

Ballet's minimalist full-length will satiate your needs.

Mar 22, 2023

João Chianca Spent Seven Years On The QS Without A Sponsor

And look where he is now.

Mar 22, 2023

Take Stab’s 2023 Audience Survey, Win A 3-Board Quiver

Stab towels and Premium subscriptions also up or grabs.

Mar 21, 2023

Jessi Miley Dyer On The New Challenger Series Schedule And More

Did you know that you could miss the mid-year cut and still theoretically win the…

Mar 20, 2023

5:05

Don’t Miss The Last Wave Of The First 2023 SEOTY Entry

Jacob Willcox's ‘Into Dust’ just set the bar.

Mar 20, 2023

Warren Smith on New Welcome Rivers Range and Buying Jaguars on Facebook Marketplace  

Now available in the Antipodes...

Mar 20, 2023

5:13

Wavegarden Spills How The Sausage Is Made

BTS of their global air wave rollout ft. Yago Dora, Dion Agius, Reef Heazlewood and…

Mar 18, 2023

Minds, Machines, And The Magic Of Hands

How modern shapers split their time between designing files and hand-finishing boards.

Mar 18, 2023

3:31

Are Hectic Lefts The Final Finless Frontier?

William Aliotti is on the right-foot-forward fringes.

Mar 17, 2023

Watch: Luke + Eddie

A mostly unknown, on-duty lifeguard won the most prestigious big-wave event in history. How Luke…

Mar 17, 2023

7:10

A Pipe Master, Ryan Burch, And Some Pickle Forks On The Eastern Seaboard

This one ticks a lot of boxes

Mar 16, 2023

Brazil Has A Talent Problem

And three other things we learned from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mar 16, 2023

2:05

Mick Fanning On A Unicorn, Bags Of Dicks, And A Shocking Script Read By Surfing’s Biggest Stars

Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet on their outrageous film, 'The Greatest Surf Movie In The…

Mar 15, 2023
Advertisement