Mick Eugene Fanning was born in the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith in 1981, but has called the north coast of NSW home since his family relocated him there as a youngster.<br /><br /><br />Mick developed his surfing amongst a hotbed of talent, taking over the punchy beach breaks of D'bah and the grinding world class points of Kirra and Burleigh. He was turning into an all-round class act and evolved into one of Australia's "future surfing stars".<br /><br /><br />Fanning forged a close bond with fellow teenage stars Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison and the infamous 'Cooly Kids' crew eventually pushed their way onto the world stage.<br /><br /><br /><img src=http://ll.broadbandsports.com/png/17668_thumb_0000.png border=0 width=150 height=90 alt="Mick Fanning 2007 Foster's ASP World Champion: Freesurfing at home on the Goldcoast" />
