Italo Ferreira surprises Huntington Beach High surfers in water

Members of the Huntington Beach High surf team got a welcomed surprise Tuesday morning during their daily 6:30 surf practice on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Italo Ferreira, the reigning World Surf League World Champion, joined the surfers in the water and chatted with them on the sand for a couple hours before the kids had to leave and go to school. The meeting was set up by Evan Slater, VP of Global Marketing with Billabong.

Slater previously spent 10 years with Hurley and set up a similar meeting with John John Florence two years ago.

“Italo is a special surfing world champ,” Slater said. “He truly cares about connecting with people and giving back in any way he can. When we asked him if he wanted to join coach [Andy] Verdone and the H.B. High surf team for a dawn patrol at the Pier, he said, ‘Let’s do this!’”

Ferreira won the 2019 world crown in December, edging out fellow Brazilian Gabriel Medina in the season’s final contest at the Billabong Pipe Masters on the North Shore of Oahu.

Ferreira and Medina finished 1-2 in the world, and in doing so, both qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Ferreira, 25, won three of the 11 Championship Tour events in 2019, taking wins at the Quiksilver Gold Coast in Australia and the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal in addition to his win at Pipe.

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