Courage is an essential requirement for success in many sports and it comes in different forms. Surfing is no exception. Braving the monster swells that crash onto the shores of beaches in many parts of the world is dangerous and not for the faint-hearted.

However, there are other ways of putting your life at risk in the ocean, where nature rules. Two of the world’s finest surfers Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson, discovered this when a large shark, believed to be a great white, dramatically interrupted their final of the J-Bay Open event of the World Surf League in South Africa in July.

This was a life-or-death moment that the sport had never experienced before, and it was played out live for the world to watch in horror.

As Fanning fought off the predator, fellow Australian, competitor and good friend., Wilson put his own life at risk by coming to his rescue. This raw courage and mateship demonstrated by the two men has earned them, jointly “The Spirit of Sport” Award for 2015.