At just 19, Dane Henry carries himself with a maturity beyond his years. He’s polite, well-mannered and despite being one of the most talked about young surfers on the planet, his ego is in check. But don’t mistake that easy smile for softness. Underneath is a competitive engine built for the big stage. With lofty ambitions to make the CT while reaching new heights with his air game, Dane looks every bit like the next Aussie to conquer the surfing world.
Earlier this month Dane joined a prestigious club of surfers who’d won both the ISA World Junior title and the Men’s Open title. Only Tom Curren, Gabriel Medina and Jordy Smith had their names on that list until the teenager from Fingal Head took the win in El Salvador over Kauli Vaast, Morgan Cibilic and Douglas Silva.
“It’s definitely the biggest achievement so far in my surfing career. If you told me last year that I’d have even gotten picked to represent Australia in the men’s team, let alone win it, I’d have been surprised,” said Dane.
While he’s proved himself on the ISA circuit, the regular footer is still in his first full season on the WSL QS but has high hopes to qualify for the Challenger Series as soon as possible. He believes the experience of surfing with, and competing against, his Australian team mates Morgs and Callum Robson in El Sal was ‘invaluable’.
“I really wanted to use this comp to test myself against these guys. Morgs and Cal, as well as a load of the other competitors in El Sal, are already on the Challenger Series. It’s a massive confidence boost knowing I can beat these guys and this has proved to myself that I’m on the right path and I know where I’m headed.”
The ISA format is currently used as a qualification route to the Olympics. However, this edition of the World Surfing Games fell on a non-qualifying year. Dane said the five rings are on his radar.
“The Olympics is definitely on my wish list. It’d be a tricky road to get through to LA but I wouldn’t rule it out in the future. The comp was a good bit of learning, I know I can perform well in that format and there was plenty of positives to take away from it. For now I’m just focused on the remaining comps for this year. I’ve got two Pro Juniors around home and my goal is to win both of them. Then there’s the last two QS’s for this year in the Philippines and Taiwan.”
Despite winning the ISA comp with an 18.17 heat total which featured a number of big airs, Dane said he set out to win each heat by keeping it on rail.
“Everyone knows that my air game is really good but I wanted to prove to myself and everyone else that I could get it done with turns. I get a lot of people saying that I’m just an air guy but I didn’t do a proper air until the quarters in the ISA’s. I know I’ve been heavily reliant on pulling last minute punts in the past but this was about focusing on my rail game a whole lot more.
“My forehand turns are starting to feel really up there, my backhand definitely still needs work.”
While Dane has been working on refining his rail game, he still has lofty ambitions to break new ground in the air. At the start of 2024, the teenager announced himself to the surfing world with two viral clips of him doing a backflip and a huge full rotation. Since then, his aerial antics have gone from strength to strength.
“I want to be the first person to land a double backflip. I tried one at Yoyo’s last year and managed one and a half spins. I reckon if I lock in and properly give it a go, I could get there. I want to break that new ceiling in surfing and continually push the possibilities of what can be done in the air.
“I’ve also been doing a couple of single grab flips. Hughie (Vaughan) had that crazy one at Waco recently, that’s one I really want to get. I’ve done a few indie single grab flips, but not got any clips of them yet. Basically just more flips, less grabs.”
Given Dane’s aerial prowess, it’s fair to infer that a career as a free surfer wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. He spent part of this year touring the latest Rip Curl junior film ‘Dunno’ and also had a section in the recent Snapt5 movie. While he enjoyed an insight into the free surfing life, it’s not something he’s actively pursuing.
“Growing up I always played competitive sport. I did rugby for ten years as a kid and I’ve always fed off the emotions of competing. While I’ll always have a freesurf vibe to my surfing with my air game, I’m a really competitive person and I’ve got big goals with competing.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever done something like that, filming for Snapt and Dunno gave me an insight into that world. There’s a lot of pressure to stack clips and to be honest I’d rather be in the rashie with five minutes to go needing an 8.5, than have to go out there stomp something specific for a video part. My hat goes off to the likes of Mason Ho and Harry Bryant, those guys are on another level being able to release full length films with the best surfing in them.”
There’s no doubt that Dane has the talent and backing to dictate his own path. Whether it’s qualifying for the Challenger Series or ticking a double backflip off the to-do list, Aussie surfing is in his corner and the rest of the world is watching closely.
