Every Once In A While, A Genuine Super-Talent Rears His Pretty Little Head

Around six years ago, I visited Lakey Peak for the first time.

Enamored by the waves and unencumbered by the rigors of adult(ish) life, I spent most daylight hours in the surf, splitting my time between the infamous A-frame and the town’s less-frequented reefs. And pretty much every day, I found myself surfing alongside the local superstar, Bronson Meydi.

With a Hurley sticker adorning the nose of his trusty 4’6″, then-11-year-old Bronson was doing video game shit on the inside section. Sitting halfway down the right, he would pick up the visitors’ scraps and throw backflip attempt after backflip attempt on the wave’s shallow end section, pracitcally sticking them out the back. It was incredible. 

Remember this was in 2015, before the advent of wavepools and thus before small children performing inverted aerials. Bronson was, without a doubt, the most naturally gifted kid I’d ever seen on a surfboard. The type of talent that comes along very, very rarely.

Jump ahead a few years, and Bronson’s talent is not just recognized but nurtured by the godfather of Indonesian surfing, Rizal Tandjung. Riz realized that in order for Bronson to succeed, he’d need access to greater resources, both in terms of surfing and education, so he took in the Lakey Peak native as an adopted son and raised him alonside his own boy Varun on the more bohemian island of Bali.

Now 16, Bronson’s surfing has developed to an almost unfathomable level. Airs are still his strong suit, but he’s also gotten much more comfortable in the tube. And the second he looses that teenage lank, Bronson’s turns will follow.

The video above, produced by Red Bull and directed by Scotty Hammonds and Chris Binns, showcases Bronson’s remarkable talent atop a surfboard, as validated by Kelly Slater, Julian Wilson, Mick Fanning, and other surf authority figures.

And those backflips at Lakey’s? Bronson has them on lock now. See above for evidence.