Mick Fanning says he’s ‘surfed out’ ahead of Quiksilver Pro but will bounce back quickly

MICK Fanning has been a bit like the excited kid who ate too many lollies on Christmas morning.

MICK Fanning has been a bit like the excited kid who ate too many lollies on Christmas morning.

Unable to resist the epic swells whipped up by Cyclone Marcia, the three-time world champ has been surfing non-stop at his favourite Gold Coast breaks.

Now he’s “surfed out” and putting himself on a one-day surfing ban just as World Surfing League stars like Kelly Slater and reigning world champ Gabriel Medina arrive ahead of the Quiksilver Pro.

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“The body is feeling really good, if anything, a little bit surfed out, there’s been so many waves,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin just three days out from the event.

“I’ve just had to stop because I’ve been too buggered.

“Before Marcia came, the bank was probably as good as I’ve ever seen it … it would line up from behind the rock all the way down into Coolangatta.

“Even the bank at Kirra is pretty phenomenal at the moment — probably the best bank we’ve seen there in 10-15 years since they’ve stopped the boat dredging.”

Fanning said he’d only had about three or four days off in the past month but said the intensity and length of his sessions took a toll.

“We’ve been doing some GPS tracking and even in an hour you are doing between 2-5km whereas if the waves are small, you are lucky to do 1km — the workrate has stepped up,” he said.

Fanning said Snapper Rocks had survived swells which threatened to ruin the perfectly groomed bank.

“There’s a bit of a hole behind the rock, it’s a little bit deeper than what we are used to and just across from the rock there’s a bit of a build-up of sand,” he said.

“It’s made it a little bit trickier to get into the right ones but all in all, the bank is pretty good.”

Fanning said shutting Snapper off from the public in the days leading to the Quiksilver Pro would help the overcrowding issue but was not necessarily the answer.

“It’s crowded because everyone wants to get the wave of their life and I totally understand that,” he said.

“I think it would be great to be able to get out there and have some practice sessions without the whole crowd. But it’s more about being realistic about how well you surf.”

As for if the Quiksilver Pro should move to Kirra?

“If we have big enough swell and Kirra was on, yeah who wouldn’t want to surf Kirra with only one other guy out? That is the dream,” he said.