Mick Campbell (May 10, 1974-)

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A competitive success story of the late '90s, Mick Campbell owes his huge career leap from the Australian surfing backwoods to the top echelons of the ASP to nobody but himself. The carefree, super-fit goofyfoot, once a qualifying series journeyboy, cuts his fellow pros no slack in or out of the water -- perhaps a result of his country upbringing as much as his amazing self-confidence.

Born in the rural coastal town of Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, Campbell learned to ride waves on a broken board that belonged to his oldest brother, Craig. The Campbell brothers grew up surfing a beachbreak known for its hard-core locals -- bred to the traditional Australian school of power surfing. Life wasn't exactly easy around town, with high unemployment and few career choices beyond the local fishing fleet or the farms. But the dream of being a pro surfer began for Campbell when he read the big-city newspaper reports of major pro surfing events. After an indifferent and frustrating amateur career, he took the advice of his surfboard shaper and friend Matt Haymes, moved to Sydney and jumped on the World Qualifying Series. (Later he admitted he had no idea where it might lead: "I just thought I'd take it head-on.")

First stop was Japan. Campbell immediately made a final, won $1,400, spent the money on a round-the-world ticket and was off. This was 1995, and he barely missed qualifying for the World Championship Tour. Next year he made sure he qualified, and phase one of the Campbell mission was complete.

His fellow tour surfers had a picture of Campbell -- a happy-go-lucky, red-haired kid who played guitar and seemed inoffensive enough. In the next two years, they learned how much they'd underestimated him. Campbell rocketed from his WQS 22 ranking to WCT's number two, taking a brief break to collect the World Surfing Games open title along the way, and -- with close friend Danny Wills -- mounted the most serious challenge to Kelly Slater's world crown in five years. He made few friends among Slater's tour clique in the process, openly mocking them for what he saw as lack of competitive drive. Meanwhile, Campbell trained hard for the 1998 tour showdown with Australian fitness guru Rob Rowland-Smith, only to see his title hopes crash in a bad fourth-round heat at Pipeline.

Those who thought he might fall down the rankings were proved wrong when Campbell finished strongly in 1999 -- ranking fifth and challenging Mark Occhilupo for the title as far as the second to last event of the year. Campbell enjoys his status as one of the top competitive pros and seems to be in no hurry to let it go, but retains a strong sense of his original small-town identity. Occasionally he will travel from Sydney to Port Macquarie by train -- a distance of some 300 miles -- to visit his brothers and go fishing. While not on tour, he lives in the northern Sydney beach suburb of Avalon, Australia. -- Nick Carroll, September 2000