Mick Fanning

Mick Fanning is an Australian professional surfer, born on 13 June 1981 in Penrith, New South Wales, who grew up around Tweed Heads and the Gold Coast alongside fellow surfer Joel Parkinson. He won the 2001 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach as a wildcard, was Rookie of the Year in 2002 and was crowned world tour champion in 2007, 2009 and 2013. On 19 July 2015, in the final of the J-Bay Open at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, a shark suspected to be a great white swam beside him and became tangled in his board leash. He fought it off, was unhurt and was picked up by a rescue boat, and Julian Wilson, who was in the water with him, was praised for paddling to help. The event was cancelled and the two shared the prize money.