Let it flare, Dane. Photo: Vince Street
Dane Reynolds is surfing’s most elusive talent. Kelly Slater once called the guy the best surfer in the world. Remember that? But all that flair he has outside of events usually kind of peters out as soon as a horn sounds. Maybe his jersey is too tight. Maybe its pressure.
Whatever the case may be, Dane, along with the rest of the surfing public, seem to have resigned themselves to the completely-ok-fact that Dane Reynolds is not ever going to be a powerhouse in competitive surfing. And that’s ok. But he was awarded a wildcard into the Fiji event, which has just as much potential to offer up shit-kicking, gut-busting waves than Pipe or Teahupoo.
But just because we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that Dane won’t ever be hoisting 11 world titles above his head doesn’t mean we don’t want to see him competing. Dane’s approach to contests is much more exciting than, say, Mick Fanning’s. He just goes for it, no matter what. He’s not jockeying for waves. He’s not surfing safe. He’s blasting the lip and going for aerials on sections that he really shouldn’t. But sometimes it works. And when it does, it makes the three-to-the-beach mentality that keeps a lot of tour surfers in the top ten, and thus with a check in their pocket, look like absolute shit.
So here’s hoping that Dane and Cloudbreak show up to the Fiji Pro with their dancing shoes on. Lord knows, the world wants to see it.
