Dale! So stoked to be catching up bud! We see you're currently surfing heaps on the Sunshine Coast - is that where you are living?

AT THE MOMENT I'M LIVING RIGHT ON THE BEACH AT THE SUNSHINE COAST. I AM LUCKY ENOUGH TO RUN MY BUSINESS FROM HERE AND I GET TO WAKE UP AND LOOK OUT MY BEDROOM WINDOW TO CHECK WHAT THE WAVES ARE DOING EVERY MORNING. I ALSO SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME ON THE GOLD COAST AS MY GIRLFRIEND LIVES AT BURLEIGH HEADS. WHEN THE SWELL IS BETTER DOWN AROUND NORTHERN NSW I LIKE TO DO LITTLE STRIKE SEARCH MISSIONS.

You're taking some time off from competing - what have been focusing on and what are you enjoying? 

YEAH, I'VE HAD ROUGHLY A YEAR OFF ANY COMPETITION AND IT'S BEEN AMAZING. COMPS WERE RULING MY LIFE. DON'T GET ME WRONG I LOVED THEM AND STILL DO, BUT I FOUND WITH SO MUCH FOCUS GOING TOWARDS HEAT SURFING I LOST THE PASSION I HAD TO JUST SURF AND ENJOY THE WAVES INSTEAD OF COUNTING SCORES EVERY SESSION. AFTER PUTTING A FEW YEARS IN OFF AND ON, ON THE QS I ACHIEVED MY GOAL OF WINNING A WQS AND GAINED THE AUSTRALASIAN WSL TITLE. I THEN DECIDED TO TAKE SOME TIME OFF COMPETING WITH THE AIM TO GET THE SOUL BACK INTO MY SURFING. I STILL TRAIN EVERY DAY ON MY FITNESS AND PUSH HARDER THAN EVER IN THE WAVES. I'VE GOT THAT FULL GROM FROTH BACK EVERY SESSION NOW.

That's the dream! What are your thoughts on the new WSL format? 

I LOVE THE NEW WSL FORMAT, THEY HAVE IT WORKED OUT NOW SO THAT THE OLD SCHOOL HUSSLING ISN'T A THING WHICH ULTIMATELY MEANS THE LEVEL OF SURFING IS HIGHER AND THE COMPETITION IS MORE FOCUSED ON THE SURFERS SKILL LEVEL ON THE WAVE RATHER THAN THE ABILITY TO HASSLE OR SNAKE TO GET THE BEST WAVES.

And what about surfing in the Olympic Games?

I THINK IT'S EPIC THAT SURFING HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE OLYMPICS. IT'S GREAT TO SEE OUR SPORT FINALLY RECOGNISED AT THAT LEVEL, IT'S ABOUT TIME!

What's your take on Wave Pools?

I can't believe the quality we are seeing from Kelly's wave pool now, it's amazing! I'm not sure if it's a rumour I heard but apparently there's a CT event there next year?!? I can't wait to see that go down if it's true!

Finally, we've seen you put your hand to the art of stained glass windows - tell us about that...

My father has been a stained glass lead light artist for the majority of his life so naturally I have learnt that skill  set from him. I love getting creative with making lead light panels and other little stained glass copper foiled pieces when I've got the time.

Get on board & follow Dale on his adventures @dalelovey