Mick Eugene Fanning was born in the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith in 1981, but has called the north coast of NSW home since his family relocated him there as a youngster.


Mick developed his surfing amongst a hotbed of talent, taking over the punchy beach breaks of D'bah and the grinding world class points of Kirra and Burleigh. He was turning into an all-round class act and evolved into one of Australia's "future surfing stars".


Fanning forged a close bond with fellow teenage stars Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison and the infamous 'Cooly Kids' crew eventually pushed their way onto the world stage.