Teale Vanner

Going into event number seven of 2009, Teale Vanner had not made a single heat. Not one solitary heat. The natural footer from Kangaroo Island now calls Tugun home, and he is renowned as having one of most aesthetically pleasing styles on the Junior Series. Everyone who knows Teale will tell you he is an outright legend, a quiet guy with a big heart.

Everyone loves him and his surfing, but somehow he manages to be beaten round one at every event.

Going into the Fantastic Noodles Pro Junior in his home state evcryone was expecting Teale to do well. Round one, he controversially paddles out on a 5’2 fish and falls chasing a small score to progress in the final minute.

No surfboard punching, no blow up at the judges, no carpark carrying on. You will never see Teale behave badly at a loss. He just puts his head down and quietly goes about supporting his friends.

Then the circus packs up and moves to Bali for the Billabong Pro Junior at Keramas. The waves are amazing. For the first time this year, a Pro Junior event is not a wave catching contest. This event is based on pure surfing and Teale shines. Round one, he progresses in second place and from then on he only grows with confidence. He never looks like losing, dropping high eights and nines on his road to the final day.

The final day dawns and there is only a skeleton crowd at the beach. Still feeling the pinch from a big night at the Bounty, I only had 45 minutes sleep before going to Keramas with my good friend and Bali housemate Mitch Crews. Again the waves were pumping and Teale put on a display that not only sobered me up, but made me smile my way through a grade five hangover. My personal highlight from the day was Teale’s ten point ride in his first heat of the day. He stroked into a perfect set wave and looked to be too deep. Somehow he came out cleanly and sent the boys into a frenzy. From then we got rowdy in our support, whistling and cheering with every moment on Teale’s waves. His semi final was incredibly tough, coming up against South African standout, Dale Staples. We all knew Teale was emotionally and physically exhausted and we cringed when he fell on his first few waves. Then with a sudden burst he dropped a high eight and an nine and sealed himself a place in his first ever Pro Junior final.

The final was a one sided affair, with NSW nugget Dean Bowen leaving Teale in a combination situation. With no disrespect intended towards Dean’s win, the final day was all about Teale. We had seen him a shattered man after every event this year, and I feel privileged to have been a witness to his long awaited rise to success.

Thankyou Teale for making us all feel good inside.