Jack Robinson and Julia Muniz on their bond of love

Two months ago, after Margaret River’s Jack Robinson secured his first win on the World Surf League’s hugely competitive championship tour, blitzing the field at the Corona Open Mexico, he stopped for a moment and raised his face and arms to the sky as he emerged from the whitewash at Barra De La Cruz. “The rookie from WA has just won his first championship tour event,” WSL commentator Joe Turpel declared as Robinson was hoisted out of the water and into the arms of his wife of just over 12 months, top Brazilian model and swimwear designer Julia Muniz. Relief and joy etched across his face, Robinson’s mind was on the moments that had led up to this victory. The three-year-old at Trigg Point, riding his first wave with his dad and even then, knowing, “I want to do this for the rest of my life.” The blond, freckled 11-year-old with a huge grin proudly holding his first competition trophy, handed to him by his idol Taj Burrow at the WA surfing icon’s Small Fries junior surfing event in Yallingup. And the grommet who at just 12 made headlines internationally as “the best junior surfer in the world”, and earned a reputation — even in a crowded line-up of Taj wannabes in a country famed for its world-dominating surfers — as something special. Now, at 23, he is riding his biggest wave yet. Having made it on to surfing’s holy grail — the championship tour consisting of the top 34 surfers in the world which has shot Burrow, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Gabriel Medina to megastardom in the glamorous, lucrative sport — Robinson’s win in Mexico, at the last event of the year, announced his arrival as an up-and-coming threat. His relationship with Muniz, 23, who travels the world with him as they juggle their careers, has delivered Robinson a sense of maturity and calm which has no doubt influenced his recent form. Their bond was apparent in an exclusive photo shoot for STM late last month on Huntington Beach in California. The couple told STM of their immediate connection after meeting in Bali in 2018, and how a pandemic-enforced return to WA last year for six months — a long time in one spot for this globe-trotting duo — steeled Robinson for his arrival in the upper echelons of world surfing. Muniz describes the couple as opposites — she was the extrovert while he was the introvert — who balance each other out. “We got together when we were only 20 so we have been learning a lot with each other and growing together,” she says. “I love the way he is so easy about everything and supportive. Whenever I have a job in another country, or he has a contest, it’s always easy to balance out our schedules and be together. He is a really great partner and my best friend.” For Robinson, his wife’s support has been pivotal. “I’m just super lucky to have her with me, it takes a lot of work as well with what she does, but we always keep a good energy. She is really supportive and I’m the same with her.” It was at Hawaii’s famed Sunset Beach in December 2019, when after years on the gruelling qualifying circuit, Robinson secured his place on the world tour with a win at the Vans World Cup. “That was definitely one of the biggest moments because it’s always so hard to qualify, there’s so much that goes into it from when you started surfing ... it’s one of the many hills you have to climb and it’s such a long journey,” Robinson says. “But it doesn’t stop there, it keeps going, you still have to work harder and harder and try to get better day by day.” Muniz adds that the win was “very emotional for both of us”. “It was a really hard couple of years for Jack on the qualifying series, and that win meant so much to us. Qualifying for the world tour was a lifetime goal for him, and seeing that happen on the last contest and opportunity of the year was so inspiring,” she says. “Rookie” is a funny label for Robinson. In terms of the WSL’s championship tour, he fits the definition, with 2021 his maiden year. But he has been surfing almost as long as he has been walking, and is known to lovers of the sport as the freakishly talented grommet who was fearless around big waves, had a knack for finding the sweet spot in enormous barrels all over the world and who marched to the beat of his own drum, eschewing the traditional route of formal coaching and competitions in favour of chasing big swells all over the world with his dad, Trevor. Their philosophy was that to be the best, you have to surf the best waves, and Robinson’s profile grew as footage emerged of him tackling monster swells in Teahupo’o in Tahiti, Hawaii’s Pipeline and Gnaraloo off WA’s coast, with, as the WSL described it, relaxed poise and calm assurance. Sponsors quickly lined up to join the ride. Robinson admits now this reputation was a bit to carry as a kid, and later as a teenager trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted while having already been defined. “There was a lot of pressure at a young age, but I always went surfing to have fun,” he tells STM. “My parents kind of shielded me from it, I didn’t really know it was going on as much as a kid because you’re so young, you are still enjoying what you do at that age. “Once I got to the age of 14 I knew there was a lot of pressure with companies, contracts and money, and you’re still so young you don’t know how to deal with it. “So I had a few years where I wasn’t doing as well in contests. But once I got through that part to around 18 and knew how to handle things better, I moved on in the learning to deal with it. “But it’s a lot to take on as a kid, not everyone comes through it ... you can burn out, or you can push through.” Robinson learnt to surf in Perth and when he was five his family moved to Margaret River, and he enjoyed a free-range childhood where he would spend up to five hours in the water every day as he honed his craft. “The first time I caught a wave I was instantly hooked, I knew I wanted to do it forever,” he says. “My parents played a huge role. I lived my childhood really well and it paid off.” Like an entire generation of Australian surfers he idolised Burrow, who retired in 2016 after a hugely successful career on the championship tour. “I looked up to Taj so much, growing up watching him on tour going against all the best guys, I loved it and it made me automatically want to get there,” Robinson recalls. “We surfed together a fair bit, but Taj was always super cool to all the kids and always had time for everyone, I think you take a lot from watching and being around someone that’s good at what they do.” Muniz also grew up by the water, just a block back from the beach in Vila Velha on Brazil’s south-east coast. She was spotted at the beach, where she spent most days, by a modelling agency at 14, and after moving to California at 18 to further her career she signed with a major US agency and has been in huge demand since, having amassed an Instagram following of more than 850,000. She is the star of WA jeweller Kailis’ major new campaign, Captivate, which she shot in WA earlier this year when the world championship juggernaut hosted two events here. The couple married in Margaret River in June last year, having returned home after a pandemic plot twist forced the cancellation of the championship tour just as Robinson had joined it. While itching to compete, Robinson relished spending time with family and friends and being in one place. “It was crazy because we are away most of the year, around nine months, it’s literally having a suitcase and board bags and hotels and aeroplanes and you spend so much time doing this, that it takes a little bit to get used to being home again,” he explains. “So it was good to remember how nice it is to come back and be in your own place. It gave me time to reset and so it’s always a good thing. I always need a bit of time to reset, everyone does, no one can do that forever ... so we were lucky to go up to the north-west coast, go fishing, diving, exploring, doing other things other than surfing and take some time off.” The world tour resumed at the start of this year, and while Robinson felt mentally and physically ready, he was still faced with a steep learning curve. “There’s always so many things to work on and the first year on tour there’s a lot of figuring out to do, you are against everyone at a higher level and you always have to be at a higher level ... to be able to turn the switch and rise to anything. But the more experience you get the better it is,” Robinson says. While he had been described both as a “once in a generation talent” and the best tube rider in the world, a question remained as to whether the skills honed free surfing could translate to the competitive main arena of the championship tour. He answered those questions in Mexico in August, on the final event of the year, securing his spot for the 2022 tour. “That felt great,” he says. “There was a lot of pressure leading up to the event. I’m stoked I finished the year well, and it was like the feeling when I qualified (for the tour). “You always remember the years, and everything leading up to moments like that. “Being very focused in the moment was when I was doing my best surfing. There are so many emotions you have to control, but when it comes together, it’s amazing. “Trying to be the best at something takes a lot of dedication, but whatever you are doing, you have to find joy and keep the love for it, like it was when you first started it. “That’s what I try to remember, so I never get bored with it.”