Presents Quiksilver Argentina - All the photos not mentioned are from the Passeri family archive or from Quiksilver Argentina

Thiago Passeri is 11 years old and is the Argentine champion in the under 12 category. Martín Passeri, his father, is 44 and is the current Argentine champion in the professional category; he has won six of those titles and one Latin American title, among other crowns.

When they stand face to face, father and son receive from each other in equal measure. It is clear that the father (and the mother) organize life, but the child gives as much to the father as the father gives to the son in order to face what each one has to do.

What has been said is perfectly reflected in the following mixed interview with the son and the father about the relationship they have, the one that gives them feedback and makes them better people and surfers.

What follows is a list of advice, daily routines, occasional grumblings and key support for winning championships, a father and son who are normal, but not that normal.

What's the best thing about your dad/son being a surfer like you?
Thiago: It's that when we go surfing and he takes me, outside and inside the water I never feel alone, like I always feel accompanied, even if there are a lot of people or no one.

For me, that's the best thing about my dad being a surfer like me, because maybe if he's not a surfer, if he doesn't surf, I don't feel as accompanied in the water. On top of that, when we're alone, it's like we're always talking, we laugh, and as always, we come home listening to music or rap. For me, that's the best thing about my dad being a surfer like me.

Thiago: "inside the water" I never feel alone"

Martin: That we share moments together in and out of the water, that watching him surf is like being in the water too, and that his enthusiasm makes me get into the water more often than I would otherwise.

Was it forced or did it just happen? Did he insist that you go into the water? How do you see it?

Thiago:It wasn't forced, it just happened, but two or a year ago, I played a lot of football, I wanted to be a footballer, but since I surfed continuously I realized that I wanted to be a surfer and that's where everything started with the family, my dad, my sister and then me, that's how it escalated.

When I was younger, he might have insisted more. Now I'm always the one who tells him. Like today, when I left school and said to him: "Shall we go surfing?", and he said: "Let's go see the ocean." We went and we didn't surf, but we had fun at home playing cards and talking with my mom and sister.

I see him as a genius, as a role model for many people, but some will say he is my role model because he is my father, but no, I see him as my role model as an athlete, obviously also as a father, but more as an athlete, because when I see him surf, I feel an adrenaline that when I grow up and am the same age as him, I want to do the same.

Martin: "Today he talks to me more about surfing than I do to him"

Martín: With Zoe I had an experience that made me learn a lot as a father, I gave Zoe a lot of information that she neither needed nor wanted, she just wanted to be in the water to share a moment with me and give her space so she could learn at her own speed.

With Thiago I was more patient, and I didn't try to instill anything in him... Learning from past experience and letting him choose, letting him set the pace and the field.

He just discovered that he liked it and I accompanied his discovery. Today he talks to me more about surfing than I do to him.

At what point did you realize that your old man was a legend of Argentine surfing?

Thiago: He may be a legend and all, but he hasn't retired yet, he's still competing. So more than a legend for me, he's like a genius, a very good surfer and obviously surfing and all this is passed down from generation to generation now, but the truth is that despite his age, he surfs very well, nationally and internationally. He is not a legend yet, but he will surely be one when he retires.I hope he never retires, but I hope one day he becomes a legend.

Thiago on his father: "He is not a legend yet, but he will surely be one when he retires"

At what point did you realize that the little guy had really gotten hooked on surfing?

Martin: A few years ago, we went surfing in Biology and he said to me: “Dad, I don’t want you to push me anymore, let me catch the waves alone.” That day he was with my board, and he caught like 10 waves alone and each one was a party.

When we got out of the water he described to me every drop and every attempted manoeuvre with great passion. That day I had the feeling that he was hooked.

What do you think was the best advice you gave your old man?

Thiago: I don't know if I would give him advice, but I have learned and continue to learn from him and he also from me. Sometimes, I think that the best advice I gave him was once in a QS, he was, I don't know, nervous, but I told him that even though they competed internationally around the world, for me, he was still the best surfer in Argentina and that with calmness and relaxation he could beat them.

Martin: “Nothing you do is worth it if you don’t have fun”

What do you think was the best advice you gave your son?

Martin: “Nothing you do is worth anything if you don’t have fun,” and: “At events, whether you win or lose, you go and greet your colleagues in the same way.”

What advice did your father give you that you always valued and never forgot? Why?

Thiago: The best advice my dad gave me, which I will always say and never forget, is that in everything I do, I should enjoy it and have fun. In surfing, when I used to play soccer, when I did jiujitsu, when I went on school trips and all that, the truth is that he was an example that I always valued because he told me with a passion that when people gave me advice I didn't feel the passion with which my dad told me.

What advice did your son give you that you always valued and never forgot? Why?
Martin: Before the drums at La Paloma, during one of the most important heats, he told me: “Come on, Papi, you can do it.” It was perhaps the purest way of giving me strength at a time that was beautiful and important for everyone at home. He accompanied me to the stairs down to La Paloma and gave me a hug.

What example did your child set for you that you always valued and never forgot? Why? Martin: In one of last year’s events where he had been winning all the M12 events and all the batteries, he lost, trying hard to get through and when he got out of the water they gave him the result, he turned around and went to greet each of his teammates… He came up to me and with a smile said: “It didn’t happen, I’m going into the water because there’s a little wave over there and the kids are swimming with each other.”

What is your daily life like? What do you talk about? How do you get along?
Thiago: Our day to day life is always talking. He takes me to the beach to surf everywhere, we always listen to music and we talk. We always talk about rap, surfing, maybe football sometimes, but the truth is that we really like being together, we like the same things, so we do almost everything together. I go with him to a lot of his activities and he goes with me to a lot of mine. We always talk about different things, like we never repeat the subject. I feel like my dad is like my friend. When I'm with him he's like my friend because I don't know, I tell him everything and he answers me as if he were a friend of mine.

We get along quite well, as I told you before we like the same things and that is a connection between the two of us that I think will never be broken and the truth is that I like what my dad does so much that I wanted to do it since I was little, that's why I get along so well with my dad, because I always did the things that he does now, since I was very young.

Martin: In the summer we get up at 6 am, before everyone else, we pack our bags and we go to the beach super early. He accompanies me to work, school or training before the group that goes into the water at 9 starts. Sometimes he goes in with me at 7 and then he goes in with his teammates at 9 am again.

We listen to rap battles in the van and he makes me some mates before arriving at Honu. At the end of the afternoon we go to jiu-jitsu on Tuesdays and Thursdays or we go into the sea… It's my time, when I'm calm, so we surf together.

He usually comes back with me from the beach and we all go out to eat together.

Thiago: "It should be noted that he always lets me win"

Is there competition between father and son?

Thiago: Almost never, but whenever we have a competition with my dad it's like they're always a joke, like sometimes rap battles, heats in the water and it must be said that he always lets me win, I have to say, there are times when I beat him, but he almost always lets me win, but yes, the truth is that on a daily basis we have a couple of competitions like that (laughs).

Martin: Obviously (laughs), from scoring points in championships, to doing rap battles, playing cards, and not to mention in the water, this guy drives me crazy because he catches many more waves than I do.

Are there any tense moments?

Thiago: Obviously he, being my father, should scold me. I don't like him to scold me, but sometimes I do a couple of shits that should scold me.

Martin: In general no, because he is a good boy, but when I have to set limits, I do so without a problem, and he understands when my face changes expression.

There are surely many moments of happiness, please share one.

Thiago: Yes, there are a lot of happy moments, one is that this is almost daily, but one day in particular we were listening to music, we rapped for a moment, we went down, we did my dad's classic storytelling which I always have fun with, we both went surfing, we went out and he told me to help him put things away at school and when he tells me that I feel like an adult helping him put everything away at school.

"Martin: "When I have to set limits, I do it without any problem, and he understands when my face changes expression"

Martín: A lot, we like being together as a family, and with Thiago I often like to chat about what he likes, training with him, watching UFC videos, surfing or skateboarding. Other fun times are when he comes to bed on Sundays and we start wrestling and we make Mariana angry, then she gets up and makes us breakfast…