Roxy Pro Gold Coast: Nikki Van Dijk poised to drop in on surfing’s elite
NIKKI Van Dijk is one of the best surfers on the planet, with a higher world ranking than the likes of Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, but most people wouldn’t even know her name.
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SHE’S one of the best surfers on the planet, with a higher world ranking than the likes of Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, but most people wouldn’t even know her name.
Phillip Island surfer Nikki Van Dijk starts the 2018 season at the Roxy Pro on the Gold Coast on Sunday with the goal of stepping out from the shadow cast by fellow Aussies Tyler Wright and Stephanie Gilmore and making a big splash on the women’s world tour.
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Van Dijk says the time is right for her to make more of a mark after a breakthrough victory over multiple world champion Carissa Moore to win her first world tour event in Portugal in 2017.
And the winning form of the world No.7 at last weekend’s Sydney Surf Pro indicates Van Dijk, who made her debut on the world tour as an 18-year-old in 2014, has the early season moves to impress.
“I certainly feel I go under the radar,” Van Dijk said. “But I don’t mind that. I just do my own thing and keep biting at their ankles. But they need to watch out now.”
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Van Dijk said her win in Portugal last year has given her the confidence to challenge herself.
“This is the first year I feel I own my position,” said the 23-year-old, who also finished third in a world tour event in Brazil last year. “It’s a roller coaster ride on tour.
“It’s taken me a few years to find my feet. I feel like I have grown up. I feel like I am knowing what I am doing now.”
And with this confidence comes a new set of goals ahead of the opening event of the world tour, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, which could start as early as Sunday.
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“I want a couple of wins this year. I got a taste for it last year and I really liked it,” she said.
“I am going to aim for the top five as well. I was seventh last year and very close to sixth. But I want to be higher.”
Van Dijk needs to make a move on the world tour quickly to be in the calculations to represent Australia in Tokyo where surfing makes its Olympic debut in 2020.