Aritz Aranburu

Aritz Aranburu is a Spanish professional surfer from Zarautz in the Basque Country, born on 30 August 1985. He began surfing on a shortboard at the age of seven and won the Basque Surfing Championship at twelve, repeating the win at eighteen. The Spanish Surf Federation chose him for the European Surf Championships of 2000 and 2002, and he won his first international title at Capbreton in 2000. In 2002 he also competed in the Euro-African Surf Championship, finishing first in Namibia and second in South Africa. In 2007 he won the Zarautz Pro Surf event, became European champion and was named Best Basque Sportsman. A sixth place finish in the World Qualifying Series took him onto the World Championship Tour, where he competed among the top 45 surfers in 2008 despite knee and ankle injuries.