Jordy Smith

Age: 18
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 171 lbs.
Hometown: Durban, South Africa
Sponsors: Billabong, Kustom, Von Zipper, DaKine

From the rich wave zone of Durban, South Africa, this young talent started calling the attention of the surf industry at age 3, when his dad pushed him onto his first wave.

Jordy Smith began competing in National events at the age of 5 in the Under 14 division. Then, at age 12, he competed outside of his country after his dad organized a garage sale to take him on a surf trip to Australia and Hawaii. The first stop of the trip was on the legendary waves of the Gold Coast, where a Junior Challenge was being held. Smith entered the contest and won the Under 12 and 14 divisions. After that, he had his first Hawaiian season and won a junior contest at Haleiwa. It was the beginning of a flawless career with many victories to come.

In 2003, Smith was selected to represent his country in the first Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships (WJSC) which were held at his home spot of New Pier, Durban. He comfortably won the Under 16 division, drawing the attention of fellow surfers and international surf media. He then went on to make the finals in the Under 18 division at the 2005 and 2006 Quiksilver ISA WJSC.

He has definitely earned the status of “the next big thing” for the surfing world, after Billabong, his main sponsor, invited him to compete in the 2006 Billabong Pro WCT at Jeffreys Bay. He made it all the way to the semifinals, beating Taylor Knox, Travis Logie, and Tim Reyes before losing to Taj Burrow by less than one point. As Transworld Surf Magazine pointed out, Jordy surfed “fast, loose, and carefree… Contest results are one thing, but perhaps the biggest and most telling tag line on Jordy is his nickname, the "South African Slater" – a well-deserved and appropriate moniker.”

As if those results were not enough for 2006, in October, Smith won the Gold Medal in the Open Mens division of the Lost Energy Drink ISA World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, California, comfortably beating some of the best WCT surfers.

Smith’s next big move took place in the big arena with big waves, placing second to Joel Parkinson at the O´Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, Hawaii. Later, he was undisputedly named the 2006 Vans Triple Crown Rookie of the Year.

2007 started perfect for the South African, winning another World Title, this time on Narraben’s fun waves for the ASP World Pro Junior Surfing Championship. A few months later, he was named by his country’s National Governing Body, Surfing South Africa, as the Surfer of the Year in the first edition of the South African Surfing Awards.

Smith declared that this year he will focus on the WQS, looking forward to earning a spot on the WCT. Watch out everybody, Jordy Smith is here and ready to fly.


Watch Jordy Smith @

Ripping everywhere and winning the Lost Energy Drink ISA World Surfing Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjQBk_ct1GY

At the ASP World Junior Surfing Championship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRkdKPGbdgU&mode=related&search=

Landing an amazing Rodeo Flip, in this year Hawaian season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDs4y_p_tsI

Surfline Photo Slide Show
http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/photo_bamp.cfm?id=6129
 

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