After riding the Red Bull and O’Neill gravy train for several years, Dimitri Poulos was “devastated” when both brands stopped the cheques coming in January this year.
“I was never raised to think becoming a pro surfer was a realistic thing,” the 21-year-old son of an ER nurse and carpet businessman told Stab. “So to ride for O’Neill for five years and Red Bull for four, and to go on trips with your heroes, and stay in the North Shore house was insane.”
“Unfortunately with the industry going in the toilet, I just kind of got the short end of the stick,” says Dimitri, referring to the historic sponsorship purge that began in October 2023. “The silver lining is it’s given me a fresh outlook on surfing and how I can diversify myself to be more than a ‘comp guy’. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with having those stickers on your board. So in a sense, it’s been a huge weight off.”
As Jordy Smith failed to mince in HSGP, “if they pay you, they own you. You’ve got to shut up and say ‘yes’ and do whatever they want.”
Being unmanacled to a contract is both bitter and sweet.
The following clip of Dimitri has been shot around Ventura over several months by Dane Reynolds’ long-time filmer Mini Blanchard. “It’s a pretty special feeling shooting with someone of his caliber after seeing him roll around with Dane,” explains Dimitri. “Seeing guys like Eithan [Osborne] travel and put out gnarly clips makes me want to start doing more of that stuff.”
But he’ll have to relinquish his rashie first.
Currently ranked 21st on the Challenger Series, Dimitri still feels he would get “waxed” on the CT were he to qualify. “I’m just shooting for that top 20, so then hopefully I can do the Challenger again next season without needing to requalify via the QS. But I’ve kind of come to a point where I’m almost just kind of trying to take it event by event and just enjoy every moment of pro surfing for as long as it lasts.”
The good news is Dimitri has plenty of time to contemplate his next best move, owing to a foot injury sustained during a Skeleton Bay mission after the last CS contest in Ballito.