The lovable Aussie under dog hero, and Jim Beam Break winner, checks in…

Reveling in some Spanish juice, Squizz ripping in. Pic: ASP/MasurelAquashot

Let me start of this blog by giving a massive heads up to Jim Beam! Without you guys, I would not be where I am right now.

Well, I have grounded myself (for the moment) in Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro with an amazing family who live really close to Copacabana Praia. It’s a nice 20-minute walk along the Boulevard to Apoarador Praia, where the second of my Brazilian six-star competitions will take place. This is a perfect place to base myself for the next few weeks to get some practice in.

At the end of my last little episode, I was in Mazatlan, Mexico for the Quicksilver Clasico 4Star. It was a pretty exciting place to go. Very easy to relax into competition and just have a great time. I had my best result up until that point in time there with a third in the round of 32. I was a little disappointed with getting knocked out in that round because I’d adjusted to that wave really well, but if luck leaves you out there there’s not much you can do about it. After that result I moved to about 370 or so on the ASP one-world rankings – still starting in the first round.

I had a few months to reset and prepare myself for my next leg, which was in Europe.

“Who am I? I am THE Squizz, you know? Squizz-diddy? Squizz-dawg? His Squizz-ness? C’mon!” Pic: ASP

The first event out of five was in Newquay, England. Here I made my first heat and before the wheels fell off in round two. Got some beer money, and went nuts Friday and Saturday night. If there’s one word that describes Newquay, it would have to be ‘Party!’ This place doesn’t sleep. Monday night is as big as Saturday night, and all the days in between are filled with mayhem on the streets after dark as well. The competition is a really big deal there and if there is one competition I’d advise other surfers to do it would definitely be that one. There is a great atmosphere around and the Boardmasters Festival is insane. Its a two day festival on Friday and Saturday were people come from everywhere to either camp onsite or jump on the bus from Newquay, and go nuts to the likes of ‘The Claxons’ and ‘Fat Boy Slim’. Let me give you the hot tip, it is definitely worth doing at least once.

After a ‘bacon and eggs’ rich breakfast it was off to Lacanau, France. Another place that loves to party. The surf in Lacanau can be amazing; it can also disappear in five minutes. I won my first heat pretty strongly, and going out into my second round heat I knew my game plan and stuck to it to the ‘T’. Unfortunately what I didn’t take into account was that the tide would come up so fast that where I was surfing would stop breaking. 10 minutes into the heat, my little piece of gold had turned into mal heaven. The tides in France move up to four meters, so in other words, breaking one minute, flat the next. Literally. Oh, well, another bit of beer money and a couple of points. Moving on!

Squizza working on his air, watch out when he starts them to his power based hack filled act. Pic: Tinez Media

The next stop on the Europe leg was in Zarautz, Spain. Pretty much an average Joe beachie. Until the swell gods go to bed. Five days of a waiting period later the swell picked up to one foot, and the comp was on! It kept picking up during the day, so it was actually pretty fun by the end of the day. They managed to push out a full 144-man competition in one and a half days (which I never thought possible?). By the end of that second day I found myself in the man-on-man quarterfinals against Brazilian Peterson Crisanto. The wind was onshore, perfect for aerials, and lets just say, going to the air is not my strong point. So against an aerial wiz like Peterson that was as far as I was going – but I’m really stoked with that result  –my best so far. Got some much needed coin and some good points to jump some people on the ladder.

Patin, Spain… That place is absolutely B.E.A.UTIFUL! There is not too much there, which is a massive change from the rest of the places on the Europe leg, pretty much all you do is prepare, surf in clear (cool) water, chill in the warm sun and enjoy looking at uncrowded waves breaking everywhere. It is the perfect place for a surf trip, although the waves are not world class, they are definitely fun and the surroundings are amazing. I had another great result here; I came third in the round of 16. It was a super close heat, which was a little frustrating, but that’s just the way it is sometimes on the WQS.

I learnt some valuable lessons in those five events, which have definitely made me a stronger competitor, and with three weeks to re-set before the competition starts here in Brazil I ‘m going in with a real positive attitude. I’m currently sitting 152nd on the world rankings. If you’d said to me one year ago that’s where I’d be I would have laughed in your face… But here I am, with plenty of opportunity to come at the end of the year to better my ranking – its going to be an exciting finish to the year.

Side note: Does Acai give you super human strength, and let you do airs like Gabriel Medina? If it does, by the time my five week stint in Brazil is over, I’m going to be doing helicopters everywhere!

Till next time.

Peace

Nick Squiers AKA ‘Squizza’

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Note: Squizza is a nickname given to Nick by Tracks staff. If you wish to refer to him by this name in person, you do so at your own risk. Tracks got caught up yelling “Squizza!” At live webcasts when cheering for the lad from Wollongong during his heats and it stuck… “C’mon Squizz–Dawg!”