SPOTLIGHT ON NED DEPPELER

Hi Ned, welcome to our spotlight on series.

So today we are here to talk about your SWAS journey in surfing, we know you well as an athlete who is pretty amazing in both track and field athletics, but it turns out you are also a very accomplished young surfer.

So what led you to pursue surfing?

I have been surfing since I can remember. My dad, uncle and cousins surf and I live in Port Campbell. I started surfing with my dad pushing me into waves in the Port Campbell Bay and at Crescent Head, then out at the point at Port Campbell. I spend every day of the holidays, weekends and after school surfing. Apart from footy season which takes up Saturdays.

You are very good at a lot of sports, has surfing always been a passion for you?

I have always loved surfing, it is my main sport in summer. Football is also important to me. I also enjoy boxing. I would say my passions are surfing and playing guitar. I have always surfed and love the feeling of freedom and power it gives me, and the speed.

You’ve recently attended the Torquay surf school, can you explain what that entailed for those of us that may not know?

We have surfing sessions with Adam Robertson a surfer who has competed on the world circuit. He films us surfing and then we watch the footage and he gives us feedback on our technique and how we can improve our surfing. He also helps with how to deal with fear and nerves and stuff like that.

Warrnambool has fantastic beaches; do you have a favourite local spot to surf?

Bowkers at Princetown and the Point at Port Campbell. My

other favourite is Crescent Head in NSW. I go there for a month in September every year.

Obviously being down at Torquay, you would have visited Bells Beach, which most people have heard of; do you get to surf there often?

Not often, I surf Winki Pop more than Bells.

So who is your surfing hero, and why?

Mick Fanning because he seems like a good bloke and Jeff Sweeney because he is a big wave charger and he has been really good to me.

Is there any advice you can give up and coming local surfers to keep them motivated during cold and Windy Warrnambool Winters?

Get a good Ripcurl wetsuit.

What is your season looking like, are there any big competitions or training in warm and exotic places coming up?

I am training in Crescent Head in Northern NSW at the moment and plan on going to Indonesia next year. I am also on the Ripcurl Research and Development Team. I test their prototype wetsuits and have to log my surfing and report about the wetsuits every 20 hours. From the 5th of March until the 11th of September I have spent 178 hours surfing and am testing a wetsuit with a new sort of rubber.

What do you find you personally benefit from in the SWAS program?

I have benefited from Adam Robertson’s advice and really think that the gym sessions have helped both my surfing and my football.

So do you have to travel much for your sport and if so where is the furthest you have travelled for events?

NSW, Torquay and Portland.

Thank you so much for being a part of our spotlight on series, Do you have anyone you would like to thank?

I would like to thank Peter Cole from Ripcurl and my parents for driving me around.