The South African Prodigy: Jordy Smith
Of all the beasts that have recent emerged in the sport of surfing, South Africa’s Jordan Michael “Jordy” Smith, or simply Jordy Smith, is truly in a class of his own. Just when the world was under the impression that it was the Brazilian surfers who posed
a great threat to the Hawaiian and Australian domination of the sport, along came the South African sensation, taking everyone by surprise and immediately getting himself acknowledged among the best.
Smith, also known as J-Dog, was born in Durban, South Africa, on February 11, 1988.Even though his permanent residence is in Newport Beach in California, America, he spends a great deal of time traveling to his native country, as well as other countries
such as Australia, Indonesia etc. to compete in surfing competitions.
The 23-year-old Smith had started showing signs of greatness during his amateur and junior career, but that still failed in getting him the much deserved recognition. However, the 2006 edition of Billabong Pro Jeffreys’ Bay changed everything and finally
put him under the radar.
The South African had started out in the event as a wildcard entry and gradually made his way into the semi-finals after preying on the unsuspecting Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) elite surfers. He may have gone all the way to winning the title
had he not made a very costly blunder in the semi-finals. However, the event marked the beginning of an exceptional career.
After announcing himself to the world through his exceptional performance at Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Smith went on to win the 2006 ASP Junior Championships title. He finished as runner-up at the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) Six Star Sunset Beach,
which eventually earned him the 2006 Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing ‘Rookie of the Year’ award. The most remarkable part of these victories was that Smith had managed to collect them despite the fluctuating surfing conditions, which ranged from exceptionally
well to down-right miserable.
Smith continued to make waves in competitive surfing during 2007, winning various National titles and collecting numerous other victories. His competitive came into O’Neill’s notice, who decided to sponsor him and continue to do so to-date. It was in this
year that the young South African decided to embark on the journey to earn a place in the Elite ASP Tour.
Competing in the 2007 WQS, he ended up earning more points than anyone had ever earned before and joined a handful of surfers who had managed to qualify for the World Tour in their very first attempt.
Stepping on to the world stage in 2008, Smith got off to a slow start and failed to earn good results during his first season of the World Tour, finishing in 26thspot at the end of the year. However, he came back much stronger in 2009 and finished
11th.
2010 was the year when Smith revealed his true potential to the world and forced the best to admit that he sure was a formidable force to be reckoned with. It was also this year when he managed to overcome the world’s best surfers to claim his first Elite
Tour victory, 2010 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay. By the time the season finished, Jordy was sitting second on the World Tour rankings, finishing as runner-up to America’s legendary Kelly Slater.
The next season of ASP World Tour saw Smith shine yet again. After missing out on victories in the initial stops of the Tour, he eventually managed to go all the way, beating the best to emerge triumphant in the 2011 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay. With the
sensational win, Smith climbed to the fifth slot in the World Tour rankings, putting himself in the list of strong contenders for the World Title.
The Durban-native has been growing in popularity ever since getting incepted in ASP World Tour in 2008. He is renowned for a couple of his maneuvers “rodeo flip” and full rotation “alley-oops”.
The South African prodigy is one of the most consistent surfers in the 2011 ASP World Tour. When it comes to competitions, he has an approach very similar to that of 10-time ASP World Champion, Slater.
After going through Smith’s career record and performance over the last few months, one really stops wondering why the surfing critics are calling for this 23-year-old to be the next major force to dominate the sport of surfing.
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