Chris Zaffis
Chris Zaffis today: white-blonde quiff, piercing blues, academic smarts, and an athletic ability well beyond his 14 years. Tomoz: you decide, but I betcha 100 skins he'll be scratching around the lineup somewhere.
Growing up on Angourie Point, New South Wales Chris' surfing oozes style. His foundation comes from rain-to-rail surfing, drawn out turns, easy-on-the-eye flow and plenty of linkage. Throw in a coupla airs and you’ve got some earth shattering sizzle.
As you might expect, the highly shredable waves in Augourie have certainly made their mark on his surfing. “It helps a lot I think, y'know, I get to surf a world class point break every day.”
And comp surfing: it's Chris' mature understanding of maximising the scoring potential of a wave through linked and committed turns, which has bagging him a gamut of accolade and pegged him as one of Australia's rising stars. Not that he shows it, or knows it. For Chris, surfing just is.
Recently Chris was selected, along with a bunch of other grommets and past Young Dudes, to partake in Red Bull's Future Surfing Camp. “[It was] An experience of a life time. I'll never forget it,” says Chris.
The camp involved a bunch of handpicked groms. They travelled up the east coast of Australia with specialised coaches and Chris' idol, Mick Fanning.
“We were working on future surfing –they were making us go bigger,” says Chris. “I was also working on my carves, getting my body stronger and lerning more about aerials.”
“It was really good working with Mick. I probably look up to Mick the most,” says Chris. “I really like his surfing – fast and strong.”
And this is reflected in the brine. So much does Chris' surfing resemble Mick's that on camp he was coined 'Little MF'.
So what do y'reckon it's like growing up a stone's throw from one of Australia's most prestigious right-hand point breaks? “You froth!” Chris almost shouts. “Y'get out there as quickly as you can and don't come in for school.”
His ol' man (Bill) don't mind too much either, as long as the surf's pumping. But Chris ain't no slacker. He tops most of his classes, fitting in a surf before and after school.
His goal?
“I want to be on the CT and make a living out of surfing,” Chris declares. “At the moment I'm just doing the under 16 events. Eventually I'll go into the Pro Juniors and then break through to the QS.”
With surfers entering the tour at 18, it mightn't be long before Chris is toe-to-toe with the pro's. Watch this space.
