INTERVIEW WITH ROBERTO D’AMICO — When Surfing is Never Enough
Roberto D’Amico is one of the most influential surfers in Italy, actually competing in World Surf League QS. He gave a huge contribute to Italian surfing, and is a close friend of Leonardo Fioravanti, who made with him the “The 3000km Journey”.
We met him at the eve of his first heat at Caparica Pro, in Portugal, after a training session in the water. In front of the Ocean, we talked about his origins and his idea of surfing, blessed by a stunning sunny day in the Portuguese spring.
Enjoy.
Roberto tell us about the beginnings: how did everything start?
I come from a little seaside town near Rome called Ladispoli, so basically I grew up going often to the beach. Luckily my parents where in love with everything related to the sea, so I had the chance to appreciate what does it mean to be close to the water. I used to go fishing and I lived the sea and the beach as places where I felt free and comfortable. My parents where windsurfers, so I started windsurfing at 4 with them. Then they bought me a skim board. We didn’t even know about wax, my father used to stick an hand-made wax with sand and bitumen on the skim board surface. I started soon bodyboarding, using the bodyboard as a surf board. When I was 7 years old I started to go on the surf club of my home town, and my dad gave me my first ever surf board. I could experience the big difference of surfing with fins, enjoying a lot the total control that gave me the surf board. I started surfing only for fun, without thinking about making it a job.
When was your turning point for surfing?
The first important moment related to surfing was in 2002 when Marco Gregori took me to the first two competitions in Italy, that I won both, qualifying for the World final in France in 2003, where I scored the 5th place. First sponsors arrived, and I started to understand what it was the surf culture out of Italy, and I felt in love completely with it.
Which is actually the surfing scenario in Italy, and how strong was the influence of Leonardo Fioravanti, that is one of your closest friends?
Surfing in Italy had a huge boom last years. This happened because surfing is cool, and Italians do like to look cool, but there weren’t a lot of really passionate surfers. Nowadays, with surfing community that keeps growing, we have a lot of truly enthusiast surfers, who travels a lot and get mad if do not surf! Leo and me are like brothers, we started together, he is one of us who is living the big dream that everyone wanted to experience, and I can only be happy for him. He is now an inspiration for us and for the new generation of surfers.
Talking about “new generations”, according to your experience, which is the bigger obstacle you had in order to become a pro?
I really think that in the beginning surfing should be only a pleasure, a way of living a unique experience with nature, and practicing a wonderful sport. Surfing means lot of hard practice, but differently from other sports, it is not always possible to find waves, especially if you live in Italy. The key is trying to surf as much as you can, travel and explore, always with surfers better than you, that can share their skills.
Which is your relation with localism? It is something that in a certain way can be positive too?
Localism exists, you can live it in every place worldwide, and this is a fact. I saw a lot of episodes of localism but I never had problems. There are places not accessible at all, and others where you have to gain the respect of local surfers to enjoy the line up without problems. I know that no one owns the Ocean, but localism can mean love and respect for the waves and the spot, caring for the place where you live and surf. I do not accept violence at all, but to avoid any problems it is really essential to respect the surf etiquette and local surfers.
Who is your inspiration in surfing, and who impressed you more than others while surfing?
My inspiration has been always Dane Reynolds. I am a big fan of his way of surfing, different from every other surfers, his innovation in finding new ways to perform at top levels. It is not easy to say who impressed me more, because according to every surf session I could appreciate different surfers with different styles.
We know that you are involved in events of beach cleaning in Italy. What did pushed you to organize them?
Simply I do not accept to shut up in front of ignorance. I do not have no more tolerance for who disrespects nature. No one should fear to blame who disrespects. I truly believe that giving an example, a little contribute that can inspire your friends to do the same, is a little step to improve the situation of our seas and beaches.
There is a strong feeling between you and Portugal. Can you explain why coming surfing in Portugal is a very good idea?
Portugal is like a second home for me. Here there is my shaper, and when there are no waves in Italy I come here training if I am not involved in competitions or other surf trips. Portugal is one of the cheapest places in Europe for surfing, with a lot of consistent spots. There is a lot of love for surf culture here, and you can feel it everywhere, from North to South. Portugal actually is becoming the European Mecca for every surfer levels. And food is great too!
Follow Roberto on his Facebook Page and take a look at his website www.robydamico.com
