Teco Padaratz

Flavio or Teco as he is nicknamed, retired from professional surfing at the end of 2003 - to concentrate on building a business career in his home country of Brazil. He owns the WCT event licence there - and last year sucessfully ran his 1st major competition - the Nova Schin Festival.
He is a 2 times WQS World Champion (1992 and 1999) and spent 11 years on the WCT circuit.
We wish him all luck in his future ventures.

Nicknamed Teco - he is the elder brother of current WCT surfer Neco Padaratz.

2002 Summary and 2003 Predictions:- (Flavio Padaratz competed on the WCT circuit in 2003, before his retirement (after 10 years)- He began the year ranked #27 in the world).
After some poor early event results, including a no show to a heat at the Quiksilver Pro in Qld, Australia, things only got worse for Flavio Padaratz in the 2002 season. � In Tahiti, he was struck down by malaria, forcing him to miss the next 4 events.
At the year�s end, he was one of several surfers applying for re-entry into the circuit through the WPS wildcards system due to situations outside of their control - but just when he was set to be awarded a place, a good result in the last event at Pipeline got him across the line (@ #27) on points.

One of Brazil�s longest serving professional surfers, Flavio has been in the WCT almost continuously since it�s inception in 1992, earning the #15 position, in the same year that he won the very 1st WQS (World Qualifying Series) Title. He has only missed out on a WCT placing in 1999, but in the same year - he again won the WQS title (his 2nd) � perhaps to show his determination to get back into the WCT squad.
He then went on to achieve a #10 rating in 2000, with results including the Runner-Up guernsey(to Sunny Garcia) at Bells.

Recovered from his illness, and finding form in the later half of the 2002 season Flavio did slip from #18 to #27, but his Quarter Final performances at Mundaka and Pipeline finally brought him into the squad again.

Flavio can still pull out some remarkable moves - and one only has to question when, he wants to perform.
His younger brother Neco remains on the WCTour also, and Flavio must be proud of how he achieved a ratings lift in 2002 due to a brilliant last � season.

QUIK STATISTICS
Nickname:- Teco - Place of Birth:- Blumenau  (Brazil) - Current Residence:- Florianopolis, (Brazil) - Height:- 174 cm - Weight:- 76 kgs - Stance:- Goofy (Left foot forward) - WCT Years:- 11th - missing out in 1999. - Highest Ratings:- #8 in 1994, #10 in 2000 � Sponsors:-Tropical Brazil, Oakley, Reef, GUL - Main Shaper:-Avelino A. Bastos - Main Boards:- 6�1�, 2 x 6�3�, 6�5�, 6�8�, 7�1� - Favourite Waves:-Joaquina (Brazil), Mentawatiis (Indo)

CAREER VICTORIES - WCT Division:-
1994:- Quiksilver Pro - France. ... the event his brother won in 2002.
CAREER VICTORIES � WQS, Junior and Specialty Divisions:-
1996:- OP Pukas Pro � WQS � Spain
1992:- Brazil Surf Open � WQS - USA.
1991:- Alternativa Surf International � Brazil

Teco Padaratz (Blumenau, SC) é um surfista do Brasil bicampeão mundial do WQS. É considerado um dos maiores ídolos do surfe brasileiro. Começou sua carreira de surfista na cidade de Balneário de Camboriu, onde morou por alguns anos antes de se mudar para Florianópolis, onde mora até hoje. Depois de pegar ondas com uma prancha de isopor de um amigo seu, ganhou sua primeira prancha de surfe de seus pais, que após muito participar de campeonatos de surf, foi patrocinado por uma empresa de produtos e acessórios para surfistas. A partir daí, toda sua categoria voltada ao esporte, fez dele um dos surfistas mais respeitados e um exemplo de esportista.