Jack Robinson, Kanoa Igarashi, and Leonardo Fioravanti aren’t the first trio of world-class athletes to rise through the ranks of a sport together. The Momentum Generation immediately comes to mind in surfing, but that was a full three decades ago, and Jack, Kanoa, and Leo are at the top of the World Tour now.
All three were sponsored by Quiksilver while still grade school aged, which meant they also grew up under the same chatter and expectations of one day winning a world championship. They didn’t just experience childhood together, they experienced chasing the same one-in-a-million dream.
“The chances are so low of actually fulfilling those dreams, and then it wasn’t just one of us, it was three of us,” Igarashi says of their unique path. “It’s not like a call-each-other-every-day friendship, but it is like we’re brothers for life.”
Now in their late-20s, all three arrived on the CT full time at their own pace. Jack’s first full year on tour was 2021, and he earned his first win at the end of that season. Leo’s first season was an injury-shortened 2019, followed by missing the mid-season cut in 2022, and finally getting his first win this season. Meanwhile, Kanoa is the old vet in his 10th year on tour.
With all the competing of the past decade-plus, it turns out they haven’t taken a surf trip — a real just-because, no agenda, no work, and no itinerary surf trip — in 16 years. So they hopped on a boat together in the Mentawais this summer. They talked about their friendship, and how much it means to beat each other.
“When you guys do good it fuels me,” Igarashi tells his friends, then explaining that he felt lost when he first arrived on tour without either of his friends there. Now he says they all have CT wins under their belts and the next accomplishment is a world title. The question between them is, “Who’s going to win it?’
“I always want one more. I wish I won more events,” Fioravanti admits. “I know for a fact to stop our career is never gonna be easy. Like any athlete, you always want one more. You always want more. But there’s no way I’m gonna finish my career and be disappointed.”
