Aussie surfer Mick Fanning attacked by shark - escapes unhurt

There are some adventure sports – the surface water sport of ‘Surfing’ is one in which  the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer toward the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in the ocean.The term surfing refers to the act of riding a wave, regardless of whether the wave is ridden with a board or without a board.  One variety of stand-up surfing is paddle boarding;  body boarding,  knee boarding, surf matting (riding inflatable mats), and using foils are the other forms. 

Michael Eugene "Mick" Fanning, nicknamed White Lightning, is an Australian professional surfer. Fanning won the 2007, 2009 and 2013 ASP World Tour.Fanning is in news – as he made an incredible escape after encountering two sharks during a major competition in South Africa.Mick Fanning was competing in Jeffreys Bay, on the eastern Cape, when one of the sharks approached his surfboard. The finals had just begun when Fanning was knocked off his surfboard and into the sea.  The surfer escaped unhurt – the tournament was called off soon afterwards.

"I was just sitting there and I felt something just get stuck in my leg rope, and I was kicking trying to get it away," Fanning told Fox Sports."I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth."Fanning, a three-time world champion, said he was able to "get a punch into its back" and startle it.

The event was being broadcast live on television. Footage later cut to Fanning and co-competitor Julian Wilson, also of Australia, on a rescue boat reliving the incident.The relieved-looking pair then received loud applause from a crowd on the beach.

Fanning's mother said she was terrified when she saw the live footage.Speaking from her home on Australia's Gold Coast, Liz Osborne told the Australian Broadcasting Corp it was "the worst thing she has ever seen happen  and it was  just there in front of her.  Her son Sean was killed in the car accident in 1998 but the family were not with him at the time.

The World Surf League (WSL), which organises the competition, said Fanning was approached by two sharks, and that he and Wilson were both rescued from the water by jet-skis.Reuters says the waters are some of the most shark-infested in the world, and that a surfer was killed by a Great White shark close to Jeffreys Bay in 2013.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20^th July 2015.