Adriano de Souza

Adriano de Souza, nicknamed Mineirinho, is a Brazilian professional surfer born on 13 February 1987 who won the World Surf League world title in 2015. He has competed on the men's World Tour since 2005. Commentators who covered the tour often described him as one of its hardest workers: he tended to arrive at event venues weeks ahead of his rivals to learn the conditions, rarely fell on his waves, and fought for inside position to take the first wave of a heat. Surf historian Matt Warshaw called him a determined, compact competitor with a function-first stance, and noted that his championship campaign was driven by intensity and that he was widely seen as a deserving champion even though English-speaking surfing opinion had long overlooked him. A well-known story tells how he persuaded Banzai Pipeline local Jamie O'Brien to host him in Hawaii during the season finale so he could learn the break.