Codezero Archives. Analysis published on 16th February 2015. Two points of view were developed:
- The athlete can be an example, a source of inspiration (more than a role model) including in their personal life.
- Two points of view were developed:
These two subjects are very much ongoing topics. We were talking about them 7 years ago.
Short while spent with Fergal Smith for a different look at surfing and, to tell you the truth, at life. Nothing less.
We see Ireland, the grey horizon, the rain, the untamed coast, the gusty winds and a rural environment. Fergal talks about the land, his farm, the crops, his parents, the community.
The idea is not even to compare this world to the imaginary one proposed by Bruce Brown a long time ago now, but moreover to show that there’s another type of surfers’ story out there. To say that the “simple” life adopted by Smith perhaps prefigures a form of modernity, at a time when those who doubt the virtues of the “ever-increasing” are becoming more and more numerous and are seeking to reconnect with reality.
The fact that surfing is also the vector, through Smith, is undoubtedly more reassuring than the Anglo-Saxon vision, more than ever boosted by marketing, putting Pizza Hut and online shopping at the heart of the tube and YouTube, to great Hollywood effect. Actually, no, that’s an exaggeration. On the other side of the Atlantic, there are also people who have pulled out of the race.
From there, to say that surfing is changing in depth, maybe not, but its European component is growing more than ever and assuming its own “personality”, that’s for sure. There are plenty of examples.
