“Some of the Best Times Ever”: World No. 3 Surfer Describes Getting His Massive Sponsorship Deal at Just 11 Years Old

Surfers rely on sponsorships to assure their uninterrupted pursuit of the sport. World No 3 Jack Robinson, who began surfing at age three, recently revealed the first time he got sponsored. The 25-year-old surfer recalled the benefits his first sponsors provided to him and how he was met with opportunities to be in the company of the greatest surfers because of it. Apparently, one of the Italian legends whom he met when he first sealed the deal at 11, Robinson defeated him in the final round, securing a glorious win at the 2023 Men’s Billabong Pro Pipeline championship in Hawaii! 

How times change! On April 27, free surfer Jamie O’Brien was joined by the new surfing star Jack Robinson shortly after his win in a podcast interview. 

Jack Robinson got a full year supply of his favorite food item

During the interview, O’Brien asked the young surfer about his first sponsorship, “So growing up, when did you put your first sticker on your surfboard?” Robinson recalled that his first sponsor was Quicksilver when he was just 11 years old. As an attractive deal, they gave the surfer 25 grands, which was highly impressive for him at that age. Moreover, since Robinson loved to eat meat pies, Quicksilver assured him its supply for a year. 

Meat pies were only a sliver of opportunities that Robinson received. Robinson also got to fly around the world. At 11, he visited the Gold Coast, Australia to observe the championship. He recalled that during his trip he became friends with surfers like Kanoa Igarashi and Leonardo Fioravanti. They flew and participated in places like Bali and France. Robinson told that he competed at The King of the Groms and watched many championship tours. He also remembered watching some of the greatest surfers of all time, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, and many others. 

Recalling those memories, Robinson told in the interview, “When I look back at it, I feel like that time and that era it was actually some of the times ever because there were so many good guys on tour and we got to watch everybody.” He revealed that all the big surfers encouraged young surfers like him, which was really fascinating for Robinson. 

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Besides his first sponsorship memories, the young surfer also talked about his surfing prowess in the interview. 

Jack Robinson on his surfing mistakes

After winning the Pipeline Masters on February 9, Robinson attained the third position at the Hurley Sunset Beach after ten days. He competed neck-to-neck against surfer Griffin Colapinto in the semi-finals. Robinson scored 16.33, giving his counterpart a lead of 1.57 points. In the interview, the surfer explained what went wrong. 

The surfer told that he made mistakes in choosing his waves carefully. He explained, sometimes your first thought you might go this first wave of the set, or actually no, I wanted to go the second wave of the set, but then ended up going at the first.” In that confusion, his counterpart got the waves that he wanted. He added that sometimes due to mother nature, things do not go as planned. However, ultimately Robinson was happy that both Griifin and he competed together and had a wonderful experience.   

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It is only time before surfing fans gawk at some of the lucrative deals that await the rising star, Jack Robinson. His win at the Pipeline Masters must have only made his job easier.