Frederico Morais was the special guest of another Planet Eleven, live, on Eleven Sports Facebook and simultaneously on MEO Esporte Facebook. For about 45 minutes, the best national surfer of all time and MEO Ambassador, talked about his career, about the Tokyo Olympic Games, and about his dreams and ambitions.
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]rederico Morais, also known as Kikas, is a professional surfer of 28, born in Cascais, who competes in the World Surf League Championship Tour. He is currently the best national surfer of all time, with a vast curriculum and career, having made history by being the first Portuguese to win the Qualifying Series in 2019.
Frederico Morais, who has already won the national title twice, in 2013 and 2015, is the only Portuguese representative on the World Surfing Circuit, having been qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games (postponed to 2021): “I was very excited about the Games Tokyo 2020 Olympics and with the debut of Surf. Still, I believe that in 2021 it will be better, we want to do more. Putting Portugal in the games is a milestone, and having me guarantee that presence has great significance for me.”
Regarding the possibility of becoming world champion, Frederico Morais is clear: “Everything is possible. Dreaming is still not forbidden, you don’t pay and I go after my dream.”
The Portuguese league – Liga MEO Surf 2020 – was the first in the world to kick off after the pandemic, an opportunity for Kikas to surf again: “I spoke to the World Surf League and they made an exception to let me compete in the MEO League so I could wear the lycra and not be standing at home. I missed you a lot. I won at Figueira da Foz, I was 3rd in Ribeira d’Ilhas. I don’t know if I’ll be able to compete at Praia Grande, it depends on the World Surf League and the resumption of the World Tour.”
Regarding what will be the rest of the year in competitive terms, Kikas said: “We don’t know when the World Tour will return and we have to stay focused. I will do an internship in France to keep the training pace. This year may be a year lost in competitive terms, but I have to try to make it a decisive year.”
A professional surfer has several boards for different occasions. In the case of Frederico Morais, he confessed: “I have 55 boards at home. I always travel with 12 everywhere.”
The pandemic led to the cancellation of all competitions. Kikas said that during this time: “I took advantage of the quarantine to rest. Now I’m back to normal, gaining pace, testing boards.”
Regarding his relationship with Gabriel Medina, a Brazilian professional surfer, two-time ASP World Tour world surfing champion from 2014 and 2018, being the first Brazilian to win a Surf World Championship, Kikas confided: “I have a good relationship with Gabriel Medina. We haven’t spoken recently, but when we travel we often surf together and share many things. Is a good friend.”
One of the main sponsors of Kikas is MEO, the brand of which he is an ambassador. Regarding the relationship with the brand, Kikas said: “I couldn’t be more proud to be an ambassador for a brand like MEO. Above all, I like to be associated with brands that share the same values as me: dedication, work, respect, wanting to be the best.”
Regarding the possibility of surfing the colossal waves, in the Nazaré canyon (Praia do Norte, in Nazaré), Kikas concludes: “Who knows, maybe one day I’ll try the giant waves of Nazaré. It has gone further.”
