Surfer: Dion Agius. Photo: John Respondek When it comes to clocking up frequent flyer miles, Dion Agius easily qualifies for platinum status. The evergreen, 41-year-old has been chasing the sun for more than two decades. As new millennium surfers increasingly began to look beyond the lip for inspiration and entertainment, Dion cultivated a knack for nailing and curating high flying content – mag covers, movie parts and lucrative sponsor deals were the pay-off for Dion’s aerial diligence. A bright lad, Dion eventually decided to back his own business savvy and has kick-started a suite of brands over the years; most recently the rebellious, post-modern eyewear company, Ritual Vision. If he carried a business card, it might reasonably boast the lofty title – Dion Agius: Surfer, Aerialist, Entrepreneur. However, if brand building has become a priority, it certainly hasn’t weighed down the wing-heeled goofy-footer. As the corresponding high-jump indicates, Dion is still soaring. Surfer: Hughie Vaughan. Photo: Spence Hornby In recent times Hughie Vaughan has made a name for himself as an aerial virtuoso. His audacious stale fish back-flip (or wild-cat to snowboarders) in the Waco, Texas wave pool was one of surfing’s biggest moments in 2025. The viral footage was reposted by skate icon, Tony Hawk, amongst others and landed Hughie a prime-time slot on Australian morning TV. Beach-bleached and whippet-framed Hughie famously fronted Channel Nine’s Today show, trying to explain the intricacies of modern surfing to the kooky hosts. In 2026 Hughie continued his meteoric rise and claimed surfing’s celebrated Stab High event. curiously brother Joel had won the same jump-athon the year before. While Hughie has an obvious gift for launching beyond the coping, he enjoys his time under the lip just as much. He’s pictured here, standing tall in a spacious cavern, not far from where he lives on the Central Coast of NSW. According to photographer, Spencer Hornby, this knuckle of submerged rock is ‘the evil, twin sister’ of the wave that breaks further inside. One of those reefs where it’s safer to take off deeper – even though it feels way more intimidating to do so. Spence was delighted to get the shot as Hughie is a fleeting figure on the coast these days. “He has an effortlessly cool way about him, and it bleeds into his surfing,” explains Spence. “You’ve got to be lighting quick to catch him too, he’s hardly ever home and … Read more