Name: Jeremy Flores
Nicknames: Mimi, Jezza
Hometown: Reunion Islands/Capbreton, France
Age: 21 (D.O.B 27.04.88)
Stance: Regular
Sponsors: Quiksilver, Orange Mobile, Moskova, Kommunity Project

One of the most celebrated young surfers on the ASP dream tour, Jeremy Flores has captured the hearts and hopes of the French surf scene from a tender age.  Flores has a dynamic style of surfing that has consistently seen him do well on the tour.  Sharp turns, quick maneuvers and a passion for tube riding has helped Flores to quickly progress through the levels of competitive surfing.


Born in the French Reunion islands, it was almost destined that Flores would be a great surfer.  He started surfing when he was only 3, and began competing when he was only 12 years old.  With a background of the tropical waves of the islands, his wave experience was cemented when his parents decided to move between surf holidays destination Capbreton, France and Newport, Australia each year.  In these superb conditions Flores was able to develop his style and turn into a world class surfer.

This French tour de force has hurled himself into the elite surfing world over the past 3 years.  In 2005 he became the ASP European Pro Junior Champion, an achievement equaled the following year when he won the ASP World Qualifying Series. With Flores' momentum a hat trick was almost inevitable, in 2007, his first year on the ASP world tour, he won the Rookie of the Year Award and finished 8th in the world.  Amazingly he was only 18 years old, making him the youngest surfer ever to make the tour.


Flores' success in his inaugural year has helped to reawaken interest in European surfing.  Last year he was joined by fellow Frenchmen Miky Picon, Michel Bourez, and Tim Boal on the tour; and European surfers Tiago Pires (Portugal), Marlon Lipke (Germany) and Aritz Aranburu (Spain/Basque Country).  Out of the Europeans Flores has been deemed the most likely to achieve a world title.  He made the semi-finals at Trestles in 08', and followed this quickly as runner-up in Brazil also in 08', yet that initial ASP dream tour win still eludes him.

In 2008 Flores finished 10th on the world tour, a feat that proved he was staying around.  However, in 2009 he has struggled with a recurring ankle injury and so missed out on the final 3 events of the year.  Yet, in spite of only competing in 7 of the 10 possible events in 09', Flores has managed to requalify for next year's tour as he finished the year in 25th place.

What next for this French regular footer?  With numerous Junior and Grommet titles under his belt, no doubt he will be back in 2010 ready to go.  He is very competitive and has been complimented by even nine times world champion Kelly Slater, who has said that Flores surfs better than he did when he was Flores' age.  So we will just have to wait and see, but no matter what- Flores is definitely a young-gun to watch.