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Alexandre, João (Dapin)

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angle

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Bermuda

Volatile goofyfooter from Carcavelos Beach, Portugal; runner-up to the 1991 European Professional Surfing Association title; a revered first-generation pro in his home country, where he is remembered for his misanthropic attitude as much as his relentless high-powered wave riding. "Dapin's influence on Portuguese surfing is unsurpassed," writer João Valente later said. "He is a source of inspiration for all who have followed." 

Alexandre was born in 1966, in Lisbon, the only child of a well-to-do family who owned an auto repair machinery import business. He began surfing at age eight, on a styrofoam board, at Carcavelos Beach, just west of the famous Fort of São Julião da Barra. Alexandre was a standout among the local kids right from the start, and the pintail surfboard he used at the time earned him the nickname of "Pin Kid," later shortened to "Dapin"—a moniker he would keep for the rest of his life.  

In 1987, after dropping out of high school and winning virtually every surf contest on offer in his home country, the 18-year-old announced that he was turning professional—the first Portuguese surfer to do so. It was a risky choice. Alexandre secretly withdrew money from the family account and forged the visa papers that allowed him to travel to Australia, where he spent six months surfing, traveling, and competing. 

Returning to Lisbon, Alexandre's surfing was leaps and bounds ahead of where it had been the year before. The Aussie scene in general fueled his development, but he was especially influenced by a young Aussie goofyfooter from Newcastle named Luke Egan. Both surfers were powerful, flexible, explosive and attacking; Egan, however, knew when to take his foot off the gas, while Alexandre simply never did, and as thrilling and progressive as his surfing often was, it could also at times look grim, almost ruthless. 

Alexandre was always a hit-or-miss competitor, and while he notched dozens of wins he never fully put it together in big meets; his runner-up finish to England's Spencer Hargraves for the 1991 European title was the competitive peak point of a career that never quite got off the ground. 

Alexandre's reputation in Portugal, however, remained sky-high, possibly because Alexandre himself did not outwardly seem to care much about contest results; he surfed hard, played up the scowling sharp-faced anti-hero. After briefly running the family business after the death of his father, Alexandre sold the company and converted the family house into a hostel for foreign students, which allowed Alexandre to keep his own hours and stay in the water. 

Later in his career, when asked about the "inner rage" he seemed to carry with him in the water, Alexandre calmly replied: “This so-called 'anger' may have been a response to the constant labeling that society gave me. At one time I was 'outcast,' at another I was 'scumbag' and at another I was 'a parasite on society.' But that was a war I won: I have the right values, ​​and now those same people who were saying those things want surfing to be the economic engine that saves the country.”

 [The Pin Kid], a documentary on Alexandre and his  influence on Portuguese surfing, came out in 2018. The intro shows Alexandre, in stylized slow motion, being kissed on both cheeks by two beautiful women; moments later, again in slow motion, he is punched in the face by giant bald man. That same year, Alexandre competed briefly but impressively in the World Masters contest, held in the Azores, beating eventual winner Dave MacAulay in Round One before bowing out. 

Alexandre died in 2021, age 55, of heart failure.

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

The Sunday Joint

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

The Sunday Joint

Videos