BOUREZ Michel

Preferred stance
Regular (worldsurfleague.com, 01 Jan 2020)

General
REPRESENTING TAHITIAN CULTURE
He was born to a French father and Polynesian mother on the small island of Rurutu in the Tuamotus Islands in French Polynesia. He grew up in Tahiti, and did not visit mainland France until age 18. He says he is looking forward to representing the culture of French Polynesia at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "For me, France is a huge country that is very far away. It's so far away, and so different from our culture and history [in French Polynesia]. France is a country I adore, but I don't have any particular attachments there, because all my family lives in Tahiti. I will represent France at this event [2020 Olympic Games] and I will be proud to do so, but I also want to transmit a beautiful image of Tahiti." (worldsurfleague.com, 01 Jan 2020; surfingfrance.com, 01 Jan 2019; sans-filtre.fr, 01 Dec 2019; lemonde.fr, 25 Aug 2014)

FAMOUS PHOTO
He was the subject of a photo on the cover of Surfing World Magazine in 2019 that was widely described by the surfing community, including US surfer Kelly Slater, as one of the best surfing photos ever taken. The photo, taken by Australian photographer Leroy Bellet, featured Bourez standing tall in an extended Teahupo'o tunnel, with Tahiti's mountains in the background. "Leroy was just behind me, on his surfboard, with his camera. He followed me into the barrel and took the shot. Later on, he sent me the photo. It is just unbelievable." (lequipe.fr, 28 Mar 2019; surfertoday.com, 24 Apr 2019; stabmag.com, 01 Apr 2019; Red Bull Surfing, 24 Apr 2019)

PARIS 2024 ON HOME WAVES
He would like to end his competitive career after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, for which organisers are planning to hold the surfing competition in Tahiti, French Polynesia, where he was born and raised. "I think [Tahiti] is the best choice. They saw the waves that we have, the mountains, it's just magic, and those conditions impressed them. Also, the Games are being held in the summer for mainland France, when there are no waves, so they would be taking a big risk to hold the surfing in Biarritz or Hossegor, and that's why they chose Tahiti. The Games in 2024, if I make it, will likely be the end of my competitive career." (Tahiti Nui Television, 29 Dec 2019)

SHARK ENCOUNTER
In July 2020 he had a close encounter with a hammerhead shark while foil surfing in French Polynesia. "I was doing a downwind from Tahiti to Moorea when a hammer [head] shark chased my foil and bit it. He broke the tail of my foil so I could not keep going. I sat on my surfboard and waved at my friends on the boat to come and pick me up. After around three minutes by 'myself', I felt something was wrong so I looked around and stayed alert just in case the shark would come back again. I was right! The four-metre hammer [head] shark came back again at me so I put my foil in between him and I to protect myself. He bit my foil for the second time, realising it was definitely not eatable and swam back away from me. The boat picked me up a few minutes after and I was safe. Fifteen minutes later I decided to go foil again and finished the race we had. We know the risk to get hurt or even dying but the love of our sport is too strong. Every time I go foiling in the deep blue, I've seen hammer [head] sharks cruising around so I know the risk since the beginning. The ocean is their world and I respect that. No bad feelings at all, he just owes me a new foil." (Instagram profile, 01 Jul 2020)