Jordy Smith – Professional surfer riding crest of a wave

It was a long road for Jordy Smith on his way to the top, and the journey required a lot of sacrifice and buckets of hard work.

Now that he’s cemented himself among the best surfers on the international circuit, it’s not so much the elite competition which keeps him motivated, but rather the lifestyle which accompanies his profession.

“I’ve been chasing swells and waves non-stop since I’ve been home,” Smith said this week, during a rare break with his family. “I just can’t get enough of it. It’s my life. I live, eat, breathe and sleep surfing.”

Now 31, surfing is in Smith’s blood, and he took up the sport at the age of three.

In his youth, he spent much of his time in the water in Durban, where he was born and raised.

“When I was young I liked the lifestyle part of it because at the age of nine or 11, I wasn’t thinking about being a pro surfer. You’re just at the beach with your friends and enjoying it.

“Then around the age of 16 the sponsors started calling and I made the transition to a professional career.”

It wasn’t easy, but Smith’s parents – dad Graeme, a surfboard manufacturer, and mom Luellen – made a decision to back their son’s dream, and they threw all their weight behind him from the start.

“My parents went through some hard times trying to get the funding to get me overseas,” he says. “They sold their houses, their cars, their furniture. They even had garage sales to help me get on tour.

“It says a lot about somebody to be able to give up everything they’ve worked for to let their son try something he loves.”

Smith made full use of the opportunity and in 2006, at the age of 18, he won the junior world title.

The following season he secured victory in the World Tour Qualifying Series, earning his place in the topflight ASP World Tour (now the World Surf League).

“I ended up winning a couple of events and suddenly it turned my life around,” Smith recalls.

“Then I got the junior world title and I started making money. I could employ my family and get them set up with a house, so it was quite rewarding for me because I knew how much they had sacrificed for me.

“The hard work paid off, and my whole life I’ve lived by that motto. You never get anything for free. You’ve gotta work for it, no matter what it is, you’ve gotta grind.”

Making steady progress, Smith finished second behind American legend Kelly Slater on the 2010 World Tour, after winning his home leg of the series at Jeffreys Bay.

Jordy Smith of South Africa in action during the Round of 32 at the Corona Bali Protected Surfing event as part of the 2019 World Surf League in Keramas, Bali, Indonesia, 20 May 2019. Picture: EPA-EFE / MADE NAGI

And while he has not yet won the overall world title, Smith has become one of the most consistent surfers on the league circuit, finishing among the top five in the final World Surf League rankings for the last four years in a row.

At 1.9 metres, Smith, who married model and television presenter Lyndall Jarvis in 2014, is tall for a surfer, so he uses a bigger board and has to work hard on his technique in order to capitalise on his natural power.

But it’s his consistency and experience, more than anything else, which he hopes will carry him to glory when he chases his newest goal of a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

With surfing making its debut at the quadrennial Games, Smith has already qualified after grabbing third spot in the tour rankings last year.

“There is a skill you develop, to be able to read the ocean,” he says.

“There are certain patterns you’ll pick up on the waves, and you only get that through experience, by staring at the ocean for years on end.

“You also need to surf in different conditions, different reefs, sand bottoms, rocks.”

Smith believes he will remain competitive for at least another decade, but deep down surfing will never be about gold medals and world titles.

Those are just the things which give Jordy Smith the chance to live the lifestyle he has always wanted.

“We’re always searching for new waves, new spots and uncrowded surf,” he says. “Generally we go to locations which are pretty remote: Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii. They’re very secluded, and that’s my favourite, when it’s just you and the ocean, and nothing else.”

“My best wave has probably never been seen, or caught on footage, and there’s a saying that only a surfer knows the feeling.

“It’s very spiritual, in a way, when you’re connecting with mother nature. You’re so in the moment when you’re standing on that board, it doesn’t give you any time to think about anything else.

“And that’s a special feeling, just being present. It teaches you some valuable life lessons.”

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