Western Australia is BIG and with the ever growing pool of talented young bodyboarders emerging from Australia’s largest state it’s quite easy to be overlooked in favor of the states more established riders.

The shadow cast from the likes of established and emerging riders  Jackson, Hughes, Luehman, Backshall and Fowler etc is vast and unforgiving for anybody, and with the tight knit nature of bodyboarding in the state its little wonder why you would have most likely never heard of Brett Ayres before now.

TS: Brett, welcome and congratulations on being the first rider chosen to feature in our “out of the shadows” series.

Haha, Thanks for having me.

TS: Firstly, details are scarce so tell us a little about yourself.

Well I turned 20 this year, I’ve lived in Perth WA for 12 years and before then some country town up north. I work as an electrical apprentice and starting surfing about 4 years ago for something to do.

TS: Brendon Backshall is a regular surfing partner of yours; do you think his riding has influenced your style and attitude in and out of the water?

Surfing with him has changed my surfing heaps through style and how I go about it in general, it’s good to surf with some who surfs well consistently. It kind of pushes you to try harder and learn to surf better. Out of the water just someone to go on weekend bender with whenever he breaks up with a girlfriend really. ha! Which is pretty often.

TS: Like Brendon you’re not a regular face around the competition scene. While obviously not hindering your growing reputation locally do you feel that with the current state of bodyboarding there is a prerequisite to have good competition results before getting noticed from sponsors and magazines alike?

Competition riding is definitely a good thing, especially when your younger as it gives you a taste of competition and rivalry against other riders. Having good comp results is obviously going to get you further but I don’t think it’s the only way to get sponsors or magazine coverage. Personally because I am sponsorless I would rather spend my time and money on getting good waves and photos because I find it a lot more satisfying. This is also because any competition I have seen held in Perth has not been anything but 2ft beach break waves.

TS: Until recently there has been a large media focus given to eastern state riders. How do you feel this has affected the attitudes of not just yourself but a lot of the other emerging riders in WA?

I think that this has made WA riders even more eager to make an impression on the media because it would feel like more of an accomplishment to turn heads than if WA was in the limelight repeatedly.

TS: Living in Perth, the world’s most isolated city, do you have any immediate plans for travel abroad?

Living in Perth is good, I like how isolated it is but I’m hanging out to surf somewhere different for a change. I went to Sumatra with Alex (Turoy) and Tom (O’Brien) a short while ago and that was good fun to surf different waves and in good weather too. Various trips up and down the WA coastline is always easy to hook up, maybe even a quick run over east when the swell is good and my tax return is well timed (laughs).

TS: In the past a lot of riders have used places such as Pipeline as a stepping stone to promote and pursue a career. With the quality of waves on offer within 12 hours north and south of your home do you feel the pressure to follow this trend or forge a new path for yourself ratpack style?

There are so many waves lurking around WA it’s not funny and I’m frothing to explore, travel and surf as many different waves as possible to improve my surfing. In saying that however I would still love to go to Hawaii for the waves and experience.

TS: Brett, thank you for your time and lastly, any shout outs you would like to give?

It’s been a pleasure, thanks for offering me the chance to be interviewed and thanks to Mickey an Alex for allowing you the use of the photos. Yew!

Transitsurf would like to thank Alex Turoy and Mickey Smith for allowing the use of the photographs used in this interview.