Surfing training evolving as Olympic sport gets more technical

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The most talented surfing juniors in Australia are lifting weights and practising gymnastics, to hone the aerial acrobatics needed to take on the world's best in surfing.

Transcript

00:00Dane Henry's goal is to win Olympic gold, but he's not a gymnast, he's a surfer.

00:06It takes years of practice to perform aerial manoeuvres like this on a wave.

00:13Having the aerial awareness opportunities on the trampolines have opened my eyes to

00:18what's possible in the sport of surfing.

00:20The newly crowned under 18 world champion is one of 40 future stars in Surfing Australia's

00:25elite pathway program.

00:27The country's top prospects are identified at the age of 12 and trained at the High Performance

00:32Centre at Casuarina in northern New South Wales.

00:34You can't just go for a surf and expect to be a pro surfer anymore, there's people willing

00:39to put in a lot of work and train in different ways that you can get better.

00:43At Palm Beach Currumbin State High School, the Gold Coast's most talented juniors train

00:49three times a week.

00:50Adding that power and that strength into their surfing and creating those good habits from

00:55an early age is what's going to set them apart and what's going to help propel them

00:59forward.

01:00It's where Mick Fanning got his start in the 90s under coach Phil McNamara, who went on

01:04to coach Fanning to three world titles.

01:07He's still mentoring the next generation.

01:09What it ensures is that any world class talent won't slip through the cracks.

01:14Thirteen year old Sonny Clark wants to follow in Fanning's footsteps.

01:18Such an inspiration and makes me want to go bigger and better and be exactly like them.

01:23For classmate Maddy Kensington, it's all part of becoming a pro.

01:27I want to try and get on to the world tour and yeah, I want to just try and rip.

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