At the young age of 22, American-borne professional surfer Nat Young (AKA Nat) is turning heads and gaining some serious recognition as he climbs up the ASP World Tour Championship Rankings. ESPN recently named him one of the ten best up-and-coming surfers, and it looks like they hit the nail on the head. While he’s not sitting in first place, he’s still in a highly respectable fifth position with 9,750 total points. Here we’ll take a closer look at Nat Young and the possibility of his coming away with an ASP World Tour Championship win.
Nat Young was born in Santa Cruz, California where he surfed the clear Pacific Ocean waters at an early age. He surfed in numerous amateur events around the Santa Cruz area until cementing a spot in the 2013 ASP World Tour Championship. However, Young wasn’t the only rookie to come on board at the ASP World Tour. In addition to Young, there were four other first-timers scheduled to participate. Of course, the nerves and tensions are extra high for rookies such as Young simply because they don’t know what to expect.
Nat Young’s sponsors for the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour include Hurley, Channel Islands, Creatures of Leisure, Sexwax and FCS Fins. He prefers a “Goofy” stance with his favorite technique being a barrel.
During Young’s first event in the 2013 ASP World Tour Championship at Gold Coast, Qld, Australia, his performance was somewhat lackluster. In a recent interview, Young even stated that he didn’t want to go out and lose his heat, but unfortunately did so. It wasn’t a pretty event by any means for the young up-and-comer, as he finished in an abysmal thirteenth place with just 1,750 points.
The good news is that Young learned from his mistakes and rebounded in the following ASP World Championship Tour event at Bells Beach,Victoria, Australia. Young stated that the waves here were quite similar to what he’s used to surfing back in his hometown of Santa Cruz, California; therefore, he knew how to better handle them. When the event wrapped up on April 7, Young had an impressive second place finish, only behind Brazil’s Adriano De Souza.
Nat Young remains hopeful of a strong ASP World Championship Tour finish coming off the second place win at Gold Coast, Qld, Australia. The next ASP event is just days away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so keep your eyes peeled for any news regarding Young.