Halfway through the World Championship Tour, a 20-year-old Brazilian is playing catch-me-if-you-can with pro surfing’s heavyweights.

Up-in-air (Photo: Getty Images)

WHAT’S HIS STORY?

There’s a quirky theory floating around in the surfosphere that the best boardriders tend to come from “broken” homes. It follows the notion that if 10,000 hours of practice are required to achieve any level of elite sporting excellence, you don’t get to wrack up that much time in the waves if you’ve got your parents dragging you out of the surf every afternoon to do your violin practice. All the best surfers have been allowed to run a bit wild in their teens, so the idea goes.

Gabriel Medina's back story supports the theory, with a bad-seed biological father in his past. But thankfully that bloke is well out of the picture now, and this young man is proving you can be at the top of your surfing game if your Mum and step-Dad are waiting on the sand for you every afternoon with dinner and a hug, before steering you back into the water for more tube time ...

The Medina clan – Mum, Charlie, numerous siblings, even Grandma – has become a regular sight on the pro tour in recent years, ever since the remarkable entry of their son/bro four years ago, when he had just turned 17. They accompany him everywhere, and ride with him (jumping up and down in the VIP area) on every wave he catches – and those waves have been phenomenal, particularly so far in 2014. With seven of the 11 events contested, Medina has three tournament wins to his name, maintaining his substantial lead in the world rankings following his victory at the Billabong Pro Tahiti late August 2014.

His rise from grommet to worldbeater has been extraordinary. In fact in 2009 he took out the King of the Groms (under 16s) world title by scoring an incredible 20 out of 20 for his two waves in the final of the comp, run in conjunction with the Quiksilver Pro in France that year. That’s two “perfect” scores (10s) in the one heat – a feat very rarely achieved even in the senior pro ranks. Beat that!

He qualified for the elite pro tour in 2011, and finished 12th. The following year he came seventh, in 2013 he finished 14th. But 2014 could be his year.

Waves (Photo: Getty Images)

WHO’S HE LIKE?

It's fair to say that surfers from different countries have broadly distinctive styles, usually influenced by the types of waves they have learnt on. In Brazil, that’s predominantly short, sharp, dumping beachbreaks. Riders need to spring to their feet, quickly get in a turn or two, and get off with as much pizzazz as they can before they hit the sand.

Thus, Brazilian surfers on the world stage have tended to have low stances, their feet wide apart as if performing capoeira manoeuvres on their boards, to reduce their centre of gravity. To purists, it’s a bit frenetic and forced, and not considered a pretty style. Conversely, a Joel Parkinson or a Mick Fanning, bred to ride on long, tubing point-breaks, look like they have all the time in the world.

Medina shatters that Brazilian stereotype. He generates incredible speed, but never looks like he is trying to make manoeuvres look bigger or more difficult than they are – another criticism of some surfers on tour. On larger, longer waves, he has all the moves – and the fearlessness – of his experienced rivals, uncannily threading his way through the tubes, and outdone by no one in the size and violence of his carves and snaps. But it’s above the wave where he splits the field. For sure, seasoned campaigners like your Slaters and Fannings have learned to incorporate aerial manoeuvres into their repertoires. But Medina can bust airs with ludicrous ease and astonishing amplitude. In this sense he is “like” his fellow students in surfing’s new school; pioneered by Taj Burrow (Aus), exemplified by Josh Kerr (Aus), now taken to another level by the likes of fellow youngbloods Julian Wilson (Aus), Jordy Smith (SA), Kolohe Andino (US) and John John Florence (Hawaii). All arrived on the tour around the same time and all have failed to capitalise on genuine world title shots. Until now?

But there is something else about Medina. He uses tactics in a heat like a Senna or a Schumacher, to the letter of the law. Medina will block an opponent if he has right of way and if it means he can hinder his competitor’s chances – even if it also means a beautiful wave going unridden (to the great chagrin of surfing's old school types). Surfing hasn’t seen this type of determination to win at any cost ever in one so young. Surfing has never seen a Gabriel Medina before.