Ferreira, Italo (1994 – )

Quiet, stocky, prodigiously talented goofyfooter from Baia Formasa, Brazil; 2015 WSL Rookie of the Year; described by surf writer Derek Reilly as "Electric . . . the most naturally ambidextrous surfer on tour; he moves faster, turn to turn, than anybody in the world."

Ferreira, the son of a fish merchant, was born (1994) in the coastal village of Baia Formosa (home also to world tour surfer Jadson Andre), and learned to surf on boards borrowed from his cousins. He won his first surf contest ...