mick fanning

Champion surfer Mick Fanning fought off a great white in Jeffreys Bay on the weekend. He was not the first person to escape a shark attack along the South African coast - although the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board says attacks are rare, with an average of only six incidents a year.

Reigning ASP world champion, Mick Fanning of Australia, took a giant step towards a fourth world title when he defeated compatriot Joel Parkinson in the final of the J-Bay Open in sensational waves in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa on the weekend.

South African surfing star Jordy Smith narrowly missed out on the 2013 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title on Tuesday, falling to eventual winner Adriano de Souza by just 0.04 of point in the semi-finals at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia.

South Africa's Jordy Smith captured the 2011 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in a hard-fought final over Australia's Mick Fanning, watched by a raucous hometown crowd on the beach and hundreds of thousands online.

Blessed with a beautiful coastline almost 3 000 kilometres long, South Africa is a watersports playground - and in 2010 the country's watersport athletes shone in a variety of disciplines. Brad Morgan looks back on the year.