Comments for Paddler Profile: Dean Gardiner at http://www.surfski.info , comment 0 to 1 out of 1 comments http://www.surfski.info Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:26:14 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/696/156/#pc_2303 I have never met Dean! Friends here in Dubai say his ego is about the size of a peanut and definitely one of the most laid-back dudes you'll ever meet(probably not too dissimilar from that of Dawid Mocke)! I suppose we'll see him here at the end of year again - giving all the young guys a run for their money! Anyway, last year's Shamaal for most of us relatively novice paddlers was something of an eye-opener / wake-up call as the conditions were slightly different to what we're used to! The Pro's were stoked and in their element! Some of the better local paddlers (Boyan/Pete/Haydn...)were saying afterwards that the downwind portion of the race was the best conditions they have ever paddled in! For me it was simply hectic! I'll never forget one specific moment during the race, where I was about 2km from the turning bouy and battling it into huge waves and wind (I had lost count of the times I swam by that stage! hahaha), when all of a sudden the top paddlers (Dawid/Hank/Tim...) started flying past me back towards the Barasti! Well Dean was one of those guys and he literally just flew right past me screaming down the face of a monster wave, he had a massive grin on his face and had his paddle straddled was acrosss his legs - almost like he was oblivous of the 'nightmare' that some of us were experiencing! To this day I still don't know if he was laughing at the grimace on my face or whether he was simply in his element! Probably both! In the Barasti afterwards, my mate Murray came up to me and said "just been chatting to this ozzie bloke over there, think he is one of the pro's ..don't know who, but he is so chilled out..." Most of the Ozzies I know here in Dubai are pretty laid back as well so it does surprise me that Dean is so highly regarded as a person, as far as paddling goes ... his record/s speak for itself. - Ed Menzies Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:31:23 +0100