Alex Hayes didn't find the ocean — he was placed in it. He grew up on Sydney's Northern Beaches and joined surf-lifesaving nippers at seven, then spent his teens competing in ironman events nationally. From there it was competitive surfing, and then the pull of bigger water: Shipstern Bluff in Tasmania, the slab at Teahupo'o in Tahiti, and the giant walls of Nazaré in Portugal — waves the vast majority of surfers will never attempt. Alex has ridden all three.

In 2020 a friend put him on a foil, and building on two decades of ocean experience, he went from his first session to a 3rd-place finish at the World Foil Championships in just three years. He's since become the first rider to properly document multiple foil barrels at the world's heaviest reef breaks — including the ride Surfer Magazine called the best, cleanest barrel on a foilboard ever documented at Cloudbreak, and a session at Uluwatu alongside Kai Lenny.

Now he's bringing that experience to coaching — getting more people up, flying, and chasing the same feeling he's built a life around.

“My goal is simply to inspire people to believe in their own potential. Do that, and you'll amaze yourself with what you can do.” — Alex Hayes