Editor’s Note: This feature is presented by our partners at Quiksilver.
Jackson Bunch is sitting in his hotel room in Huntington Beach. There are a few boards in the room, snacks spread out over the table, but he’s trying to keep the place as nice as he can. He just got in a few days ago for the US Open of Surfing, an event known for the parties as much as the competition (although that’s cooled off in favor of more of a more family friendly atmosphere in recent years). However, Jackson remains focused on one thing and one thing alone: surfing.
He may only be 19, but Jackson’s an old pro by now. He’s been getting attention for his surfing since he was a child, when he would win contests against teenagers on Maui. Quiksilver sponsored him when he was just 13 years old, and now they have a pair of boardshorts emblazoned with his name. When asked what it was like to be interviewed for a surfing magazine as a nine-year-old, Jackson lets out a quick laugh that turns out to be a trademark of his. “It was fun to me, fun and challenging,” he says. “It was good for me, because I’m not the best talker. Growing up, it was always a challenge, but it was fun, just knowing I was going to be in the magazine. That’s what every little kid wants to be, is in a magazine.”
Since then, he’s done way more than just appear in magazines. This year, Jackson qualified for his first WSL Challenger Series season – hence the trip to Huntington. He has three events under his belt, but it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. “I started pretty good at Snapper, I got a 9th. Both Narrabeen and Ballito my surfing felt good, but the waves just didn’t go my way,” says Jackson. “But I got three more, so I’m excited.”
When you meet someone who’s been covered by the surfing media since he was in middle school, it’s hard not to think of the observer effect in physics: the notion that studying a subject can’t help but change it. However, Jackson shrugs off the idea. “I don’t feel like it’s changed me too much,” he replies. “It’s just more so motivated me more and more. I’ve always wanted to get the better shots so I can be in the next magazine or get a really good wave so someone will post it. It’s more just try to get better and better.”
“When I’m training at home, I still try to do the exact same things I’ve done growing up, like surfing when its one foot. I surf this wave on Maui when its super small,” he says, referring to his home break of Ho’okipa, a wave that he surfs under the watchful eye of his father (also named Jackson Bunch). Jackson Bunch III works as a lifeguard nearby and provides pointers to Jackson Bunch IV from the sidelines. “It’s a really small, dismal wave I grew up surfing and doing cutbacks all the way to the beach as much as I could, and I still do that. I feel like growing up in a wave that’s really bad is almost better for competition, because if you can surf a bad wave well, you can surf a good wave well.“
Jackson is far from limited to surfing bad waves well. He’s been on the road for a while now, traveling between some of the best breaks in the world. Australia for a month, then to South Africa for three weeks, now California for two weeks. It’s a whirlwind pace, and he admits that it can be hard to be away from home so much. However, in the end, Jackson sounds like the stoked teenager that he is, “All these places I get to go and score waves with my friends. It’s all anyone can ask for, pretty much.”
But make no mistake, Jackson always has his eyes on the prize. “I don’t really find myself holding my phone up in front of everyone and talking to myself,” he says, when asked about his YouTube channel, “Maybe if I go fishing or diving I might post it on there.” In the end, he’s a contest weapon, through and through. “My main goal is definitely to qualify for the Championship Tour. Right now, that’s what I’m most excited for. Eventually become a world champ, that’s always what everyone wants to be. Just gotta take it one step at a time.”
