From an early age, Dean Morrison was slated for greatness. Growing up on the Gold Coast, Dingo was at the same level as his World-Title holding contemporaries Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning; he excelled in XXL waves and progressive small waves, too; surfing legend Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew took him under his wing and groomed him for competition. Everything appeared to be going Dingo’s way, allowing him to assume his role atop the competitive surf world food chain like Mick and Joel. And for a while, he did.
But after securing just one CT win – a triumphant performance against Slater in front of his home crowd at Snapper – Dingo relinquished his goals for a World Title. Also impacting his decision to retire was a head injury, the death of his dog, and his wife leaving him. Ouch… But throughout it all, Dingo continued to beam his characteristic grin. And get barreled…he did a lot of that, too.
Dingo now sports stickers from his fellow Aussie wildmen, The Mad Hueys. And a new video from The Hueys shows what Morrison has been up to since his rough couple years. Dingo’s positivity throughout it all shows his strength and perseverance. Nowadays Dingo doesn’t appear to be concerned with standing tall on the podium, but instead standing tall in heaving barrels. And that’s not such a bad life.
