Mick Fanning’s retirement sucks for anyone who likes to watch incredible surfing. Mick Fanning’s retirement doesn’t suck for Mick Fanning, though, because he’s still surfing, traveling, and generally doing everything he wants to do, just without the pressures of competition. It sucks for anyone who likes to watch incredible surfing because there is less incredible surfing to watch, so when Mick drops a clip, it’s like a breath of fresh air in a room full of farts.
You might remember when, in August of 2019, Mick Fanning tore his ACL on a trip with Stab. Even though it was obviously all Stab’s fault (obviously) that one of surfing’s greatest surfers spent months out of the water, Mick politely ignored all of Stab’s mistakes (stupid Stab*) and didn’t place any blame on them.
Well, here we are all these months later in the middle of a global pandemic. Global pandemics, however, don’t pay attention to weather patterns, and March happens to be the time when magic happens on the Gold Coast. Right around this time every year, a cyclone swell swirls its way towards the Queensland coastline and lights the place up. And Mick Fanning, despite Stab’s best efforts, was ready to get back in the water. And from the looks of things, he didn’t skip a beat.
*Just kidding, Stab’s not stupid.
