The 29-year-old easily accounted for Fanning, who was competing at his first contest since being attacked by a shark in the final of the Jeffrey’s Bay event in South Africa.
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Fanning was back competing on Sunday morning (AEST) at Teahupoo in Tahiti and led his first heat from start to finish to continue his quest for a fourth world title. “And really just get going again, put the singlet back on and make that the focus rather than an incident that happened a few weeks ago”.
Mick Fanning revealed he has been surfing with sharks again as he joined the world’s elite for the seventh round of the 2015 World Surf League (WSL) in Tahiti.
The surfer’s return to the water was being filmed by an Australian television program, and he admitted he agreed to take his board out at a spot he normally did not surf.
Fanning added that he is done with last month’s hype, prioritising his current performance over media attention.
Fanning says getting back in the water after his return from South Africa has been a crucial step in overcoming the trauma.
That combined score of 15.17 proved to be more than enough with Fanning struggling to find any fluency as he searched for the big barrels for which Teahupo’o is renowned.
Fanning simply felt he was in the right place at the right time. “I talk about it when I need to”.
“I just saw a fin just come up and go through the wave”.
“It was really tough out there and there wasn’t too many opportunities”, he said.
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Meanwhile, Fanning’s close mate Julian Wilson, who he was surfing against when he was attacked, also had a victorious return winning his opening heat against Hawaii’s Sebastian Zeitz and compatriot Garrett Parkes.
