A Dramatic Edit Featuring The World’s Best 14 Year-Old

Two things I expected when I first met Eli Hanneman; that the 14 year-old could surf ridiculously well, and that he knew he could surf ridiculously well. I braced for an obnoxious, overconfident personality. It never showed. In fact, his personality just about matched his impressive ableness on five foot of foam.

I spoke with his lovely mother, Linda, on the sand at D-Bah while Eli was in the water. She told me her son started surfing sometime around five years of age, sticking his first air rev around eight. Hurley came knocking soon after, telling her to “keep him going and keep him in love with the sport.” So far, so good.

What else can I tell you that isn’t explained in the four-and-a-half minutes above? Eli is fantastic on a skateboard, he’s homeschooled, just jumped on the pro junior series and might just have a title under his belt before he can legally buy his own beer.