‘You’re doing brilliantly Ari, seriously,’ Matty chipped in. ‘I’m loving these stories. You’re giving us colour. Humanizing him. You’re showing us how he became a champion.’

He seemed pleased by her words. ‘’Kay.’ He looked back at Clover again.

‘So going back to you two competing against each other as kids, what do you think his drivers were? What set him apart?’

He thought for a moment. ‘. . . I know his parents’ divorce really hurt him and I think being on the water was where he could . . . channel his feelings.’

‘What sort of feelings?’

‘All the usual – anger, grief, frustration . . . He’d been through a lot by then. He’d grown up in New Zealand – most people don’t even realize he’s a Kiwi; he shook off the accent pretty quick when his mum moved with him and his brother over to the Gold Coast.’

‘Was that deliberate, do you think?’

He considered. ‘Not sure. Kit’s never been the guy to worry about fitting in; it wouldn’t have been that. But I guess he was at an age where he was still developing; it probably happened without him even noticing. By the time I met him, he’d been living in Oz for a few years and I mean, I couldn’t tell. He’d cut all ties with the place.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, his relationship with his dad wasn’t good. They weren’t in contact. I imagine he didn’t want to be reminded of him.’

‘Did he and his father ever reconcile after the divorce?’

‘No.’

‘Not ever?’

‘No.’

‘Is his father still alive?’ She already knew the answer to this question, but she needed it on tape.

‘His dad was killed in a motorbike accident when Kit was sixteen.’

‘That’s terrible.’

Ari took a deep inhale. ‘It was tough on him, but he’d never show it. That was the year he won the World Surf Tour for the first time. If anything, it made him push himself harder.’

Clover nodded, looking down at her sheet and pretending to read it. ‘I’m sorry if this next question seems . . . intrusive, but it would be helpful for the viewers, I think, if you could answer it.’

Ari sat up straighter, bracing for it.

‘Did Kit attend his father’s funeral?’

Ari shifted position, looking down at his hands for a moment as he debated whether to answer. It was a moment before he looked up. ‘. . . No.’

She nodded sombrely. ‘That must be a terrible burden on him. He’s never really had . . . closure on what sounds like a deeply traumatic break in his family history.’

‘No. But Kit is . . .’ He sighed. ‘He deals with things in his own way. He’s not a talker. Like a lot of blokes, he takes his feelings and channels them into . . . doing. He processes emotion through his body.’