The state of european professional surfing

Europe does not have the galactic stars that dominate professional surfing. Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow or even the magnific set of brazillians that started to climb the rankings in recent years, all of these surfers belong to a whole other level. In the top 20 you find only one european: Jeremy Flores, and that is it. What makes european surfing performance in the world circuit so poor?

First, surfing is not a major sport in most european countries. It is reasonable to say that it has a cult status in countries like Portugal or France, but it is far from moving the masses that a game like football involves. Its true that the reputation of surfing has began to grow, specially among younger folks, but it is not enough to generate a passion comparable to the one shown by Australian fans.

Secondly, top surfing athletes in Europe are rare and the competition is weak. Recent years have shown that many good surfers have begun to show some good performance in the worlds waves but the overall level is still far from the one that American, Brazillian and Australian surfers can provide.

The verdict is, in my opinion, that European surf has a great potential and recent results show us that greater achievements can be won. What Europe needs is a great sportsman, a contender for the world title that can bring professional surfing to the masses.

European surfers ranking in the ASP Men’s World Ranking:
                           Euro ranking       World Ranking
 Jeremy Flores          1                            15
 Tiago Pires               2                            24
 Glenn Hall                3                            27
 Joan Duru                4                            41