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academia and surfing

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advertising and surfing

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Benson, Becky

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Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Raw, relentless pro surfer from Matinhos, Brazil; world-ranked #7 in 2001, and three-time Brazilian pro champion. Rosa was born (1974) in Guaraja, Brazil, and began surfing at age nine. He turned pro in 1988 at 14, and by 1992 he'd earned a reputation as one of the most entertaining, go-for-broke members of the world tour, picking up nicknames like "The Animal" and "Bronco." Surf journalist Derek Hynd once said that the tattooed and wild-haired Rosa "doesn't so much perform maneuvers as have collisions with the wave." Or as Florida pro Shea Lopez put it, "If the Cookie Monster surfed, he'd be Peterson Rosa."

Rosa's pro career was nearly as wild as his attacking style in the water. In 1994, he made it to #17 on the season-end rankings, then dropped the following year to #34, before going on a three-year rise that saw him hit #8 in 1998. That year he won his only WCT event, in Rio. Rosa again went into freefall, all the way to #30, before bouncing back to #7 in the abbreviated 2001 season. Once more he dipped (to #26), then in 2004 came back for one last top-ten finish.

Rosa also had nine WQS wins in his career, and was Brazillian national pro champion in 1994, 1999, and 2000.

Small (5' 7") and thick-legged, Rosa was best known for his section floaters, which he often finished by intentionally riding over the falls atop his board and disappearing into a whitewater explosion. It was a dangerous, crowd-pleasing move, and Rosa somehow landed it with regularity.

Rosa was also something of a Rorschach Test during his years on tour, as long-dominate surfing nations America and Australia were forced to come to grips with the fact that Brazil itself, like Rosa, was on its way to becoming top-tier surfing power. Descriptions of Rosa in English-language surf magazine ranged from, "He's a gem; everybody likes him" (Barton Lynch), to "a little dangerous, like one of those crazy soccer-players who likes to brawl with fans (SURFER), to "I love Peterson because in a heat he'll always cheer for the other guy" (Pat O'Connell), to "the worst rep on tour" (SURFER again). The fact of Rosa being from Brazil fed into how he was perceived by the non-Brazilian surfing world, and the negative remarks often reflected more on the source than the subject.

Rosa, Peterson

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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