I still remember the first time I saw a clip of Jai Glideman. He was 16 years old, all lanky limbs and rapidly growing out of his school uniform. Yet he surfed with a distinct power, poise and style well beyond his years.
Five years later, Jai has only gotten bigger and better. At age 21, the regularfoot from Lennox Head, Australia, has cleared the benchmark required of all great surfers: He makes the hard stuff look not just easy, but downright fun.
In this video from JS Industries, which kicks off their Far & Wide series about the brand’s team riders, we get a glimpse into what Jai likes in his tractors and how he got involved with Jason Stevenson and Co. After four years of riding Pyzels, he wanted something closer to home. And JS just happened to be waiting with open arms in Coolangatta.
“I just wanted a connection with a shaper I could go and talk to,” Jai said. Be in the bay and watch him shape. That’s what I thought was my next step to get better at surfing: a relationship with a shaper who’s close to home. That’s where JS was perfect.”
Related: Surfing’s 1999 World Champion is Bullish on his New Surfboard
No kidding. To put it bluntly: Only a few people alive would get gifted a Joel Parkinson’s board that he rode to three Championship Tour event wins (Bells, J-Bay and Kirra, naturally). Jai bonded it like water in a bottle. Unfortunately, the Golden Child snapped during a delightful session in Sumbawa, and Joel’s old cash cow was no more. On the plus side, Jai literally looked like the second coming of Joel himself. Heaps of drive and a rail you’d trust with your paycheck. JS’s revamped Golden Child is now Jai’s go-to board. And we as surf fans are all the better for it.
Related: From Tubes To Turns, Jai Glindeman’s Surfing is a Treat to Behold