Mick Fanning finding his focus under trying circumstances. Photo: WSL / Kirstin Scholtz
Mick Fanning will compete on the Gold Coast when the WSL’s 2016 Championship Tour begins. Beyond that we don’t know for sure when we’ll see White Lightning in a jersey again, according to a statement released by the 3-time World Champion today:
“This year, I’m going to take some time off and have a bit of a personal year,” Fanning said in a short video published on the WSL’s website. “Just to regroup and re-stoke the fire. At this stage, I’m going to compete at Snapper and I’m going to compete at Bells and then I’m going to take some time off from there. They are two events that I love and I’d go crazy if I were sitting at home and couldn’t go surf Snapper. Bells is like a second home as well. From then on, I feel like I have to take some time away from the tour to get out of that sort of zone to see where my head is at.”
As for the rest of the 2016 Tour schedule, Fanning’s plan is to compete enough to qualify for the 2017 Tour without taking an injury wildcard away from another competitor. The only other event Fanning referred to in his announcement was of course the same one that never finished in 2015. And while going back to South Africa come July may serve as means to getting Fanning back on tour for 2017, he seems to be leaning toward a return.
“I want to go back to J-Bay. I feel like there’s something there that I want to go and face. I want to make sure that I scratch that off the list. I think the main thing will be that first surf. I probably won’t be getting up at dark and getting out there before the sun gets up anymore,” he says. “If I go and do that event, there are going to be a lot of eyes on me. A lot of people will be seeing what reaction I’ll have. I don’t think I’ll be paddling out early for heats, but I think after a surf or two, I’ll feel fine.”
