Mick Fanning recounts punching a great white during 2015 J‑Bay final in extract from memoir
Mick Fanning has described punching a great white shark that attacked him while he competed against Julian Wilson in the 2015 world tour final at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, an episode he recounts in an extract from his memoir All Heart; the encounter was broadcast live.
Fanning writes that he was locked on his take‑off spot in the J‑Bay lineup when a big splash behind him revealed a huge dark shape, and that after hauling himself onto his board to shield his body he felt a violent lurch and was yanked by his leg rope. He describes seeing the shark’s fin and then receiving a blow from the creature’s tail that snapped his head back and sent him underwater as his leg was nearly torn from its socket, before he broke the surface gasping.
After being released, Fanning says the shark jackknifed and then hurtled toward him; he began to scream as it crashed into him and he struck out with punches and kicks while yelling, but the animal shrugged him off and swam away. He reports seeing Julian Wilson about 25 metres away and shouting, “Shark! Shark! Go in! Go! GO!” and later yelling, “Go in!” and “There’s a bloody shark.” He stopped swimming, turned, and treading water with his fists clenched scanned the sea for the shark’s return.
A jetski arrived and a crew member called, “Mick! Mick! Get up here!” Fanning scrambled onto the sled and immediately asked, “Jules? Where is he?” He quotes the reply, “On the other jetski. He’s fine. You OK?” and says he checked his limbs and answered, “Yeah, I’m OK. But what the fuck?” When the jetski pulled up alongside the larger boat, Wilson’s eyes were wild and he stammered, “You right?” to which Fanning says he answered, “Yeah, you? I was telling you to go in! You crazy bastard.” Wilson’s response was, “What was I gonna do? Watch my mate get eaten by a shark?”
Fanning recalls Peter Mel, the field commentator, telling them on the water: “If you’re both OK, we’re going to get you in now. We can probably just surf in, yeah?” and then, in a softer tone, adding, “No, Mick, that was a big shark. We’re going to escort you in.” Back on shore they were hustled into a white Volkswagen van and when Wilson heard that Fanning had punched the shark he convulsed in giggles. Fanning lists those waiting outside the van — Jarrad, Fletch, Otto, Ace and other touring surfers — and identifies Ace as Australian world tour surfer Adrian Buchan, Fletch as Rip Curl team manager Ryan Fletcher, and Jarrad as a former tour surfer and his coach at the event; he says the group were shock‑struck and tearful and that Ace, Fletch and Jarrad hugged him.
They were taken to the commissioner’s office where Ronnie, the event commentator for the WSL broadcast, interviewed him and Kieren Perrow, the tour commissioner, offered to show the footage. Fanning describes watching the replay on a big screen: the initial splash and fin, then a wave that obscured the camera for eight seconds while the most frantic part of the tussle was unseen; he quotes Jarrad saying, “We all thought you were gone. The last thing we saw was you being knocked off your board, then that set rolled in. Next thing we saw was your board heading out to sea …” Viewing the clip made him note the shark must’ve been “at least three‑and‑a‑half metres long, with the girth of a submarine,” and he says he felt very lucky.
Realising his mother was watching the final live, Fanning says he jumped on the broadcast to let her and others know he was unharmed and did an interview with Ronnie. After the interview he describes Kelly Slater walking over and embracing him; he came downstairs surrounded by security to find Parko standing with Ace and Parko’s wife Bec, whose emotion made Fanning’s legs buckle and prompted him to break into tears. Ronnie then noticed him crumble and said, “Righto mate, we better get you out of here now.”
Ronnie told Fanning on air that “The commissioner’s office has decided that there’ll be no final run today,” and asked, “Is that even a concern for you at this stage?” Fanning replied, “Mate, I’m happy to not ever compete again. I just want to let all my family and friends know that I’m OK. Right now, I’m just tripping out.”