It’s rare than an 18-year-old this good at surfing seemingly appears out of thin air.
In the case of Portugal’s Joao Mendonça, that’s exactly what happened.
Prior to this 9-minute introductory edit from Billabong showing up on our YouTube feed, we’d never heard Mendonça’s name.
And we doubt you had, either.
So, it was a surprise to see Mendonça not only ripping through his home country of Portugal, but also packing pits and throwing himself over the falls at Backdoor and Pipeline last winter. How did we miss that?
The way he charges with reckless abandon reminds us a little of the other Joao — Joao Chianca. And like Mendonça, Chianca was also a little-known name until he burst on the scene in Hawaii just a few years ago. Now he’s sitting third in the world.
Those are some big shoes to fill, but with the way he’s surfing in the edit above, it’s obvious he’s got the talent to make it happen. Will we see two Joao’s on tour soon?
Either way, he’s on our radar now.
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