Young Tanner Rozunko hails from San Clemente, which as everyone knows sends perhaps more surfers into the pro ranks than any other city in the world. From old school legends like Matt Archbold to WCT talent like Chris Ward to up and comers like Mike Losness and the Gudauskas brothers, San Clemente's roster is deep.
'Yeah, all those guys are inspiring, for sure,' says Tanner. And you've got to imagine he's getting plenty of good advice from the upperclassmen of San Clemente. Not surprisingly, he says he is, especially from the Gudauskas brothers. 'Oh yeah, they're hyped on giving me advice, but more on the ladies than on surfing,' he laughs.
Rozunko's also tight with fellow all-star grom Kolohe Andino, who's dad Dino happens to be the Billabong team manager and former pro who's also known for his coaching prowess. Between the Billabong links and the San Clemente heritage, there's no shortage of surf-tinged guidance counseling for Tanner.
And he's already had plenty of experience at putting it to use, as there's seldom a weekend that goes by that he's not booked solid on the contest circuit. And even though there's a contest to do every single weekend, the one that the groms think about all year is NSSA Nationals, the benchmark of amateur comps. This last year, Tanner had some good momentum going into the Menehune semi-finals, but all of a sudden the wheels fell off. 'I got three triangles, I think,' says Tanner. 'I took off on two waves after the buzzer, plus I dropped in on my friend Evan Geiselman. It wasn't exactly a highlight.' Even if he didn't make the final last year, Tanner's got the right attitude, talent, and all the support to take it as far as he wants to in the coming years.