You'd be hard-pressed to find a tour surfer more passionate about donning a singlet than Neco Padaratz. Whether he's kneeling at the water's edge in prayer before a heat, splashing the water when he comes up short on a score or pumping his fist to claim an epic wave, it's never hard to figure out exactly what's on Neco's mind.

An unadulturated love of pro surfing saw the powerful Brazilian surf his way from the WQS onto the ASP World Tour in 1997 (where he finished a career-high World No. 17), finish WQS No. 1 twice in 2003 and 2004 and then requalify via the grueling second-tier tour again in 2006 when he was stripped of his seeding after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs the year prior. Neco has bounced back from rock bottom to find himself in the Top 45 again in 2008. When it all comes together for one of Brazil's greatest surfers, he's almost unstoppable.

weight: 176 lbs (80 kilos)

height: 6'2" (188.8 cm)

stance: Regular (natural) foot

sponsors: Mormaii, Havenga surfboards

shapers: Havenga surfboards

quiver: Two 5'11s, 6'0" and a 6'2, 6'4 and 6'7"

favorite wave: Pointbreaks

favorite maneuver: Snaps and tubes

favorite surfers: My brother Flavio "Teco" Padaratz and Tom Curren, he is the man

2008 Rating: 39

2008 Points: 2545

2008 earnings: $48,000.00

Career earnings: $669,759.00

highest ASP World Tour rating: 13th in 1997

years on ASP World Tour: 2008 will be Neco's 9th year on tour

rating by year:
2007: 21st
2004: 28th
2003: 28th
2002: 21st
2001: 25th
2000: 27th
1998: 41st
1997: 13th

elite inception: 1997

hard yards: Started competing on the ASP WQS in 1994

sabbatical: a few times

filmography: Secret (X)

elite tour victories:
Quiksilver Pro France, South West Coast-France (2002)
Gotcha Pro, Huntington Beach, California (1999)