A step change in the evolution of surfing brought about by an Australian teenager has electrified the world of extreme sport and drawn praise from the doyen of skateboarding, Tony Hawk.
Eighteen-year-old Central Coast surfer Hughie Vaughan produced what has been dubbed a “stalefish flipper” at a competition in a wave park in Texas this week that has already been viewed millions of times on social media.
The aerial had the teenager from Bateau Bay launching into a backflip on a right break, holding his board with his right hand and landing smoothly on the top of the wave.
The organisers of the The Nines event in Waco, which also involved skateboarding, described it as a “stalefish backflip”.
The series promotes experimentation and includes a rail over the water to allow surfers to produce skateboarding grinds, as well as night-surfing with illuminated rings through which competitors aerial.
Surf photographer Rob Henson captured and shared Vaughan’s accomplishment on social media, in a post that has been liked more than 7,000 times.
“Here’s my angle of the BEST AIR done in a wavepool by @hughievaughan ! Not my words, those are the words of most of the surfers who have seen it,” he said.
His video was reposted by Hawk, who named the trick the “stalefish flipper”, bringing the move to the attention of his near 10m followers. American DJ Diplo asked: “Is this AI?”
Although the feat was produced in a wave park, it won praise from ocean water legends of the World Surf League.
Brazilian former world champion and Olympic gold medallist Ítalo Ferreira said it was “insane”, and Australian surf legend Mick Fanning was equally shocked.
“Wowsers. Had to watch it 50 times just to figure out what happened. Amazing,” Fanning said.
Championship tour surfer Jesse Mendes said it “has to be the best air ever done”, while fellow pro Julian Wilson described it as “a new standard”.
