Well, by now you’ve all heard that Nathan killed it during the Billabong XXL Awards. The event took place at the Grove in Anaheim this past May 4th, and all eyes were on shy, unassuming Nathan.

Nathan was nominated for three categories: “Ride of the Year”,  ”Men’s Performance” and “Monster Tube Champion”, and true to Nathan’s fashion, when Dave Grohl and his fellow bandmates (of Chevy Metal fame) announced the “Monster Tube Champion” as none other than Nathan Fletcher, homeboy was nowhere to be found.

Heads were turning, eyes straining, the attending spectators both hooting and whispering in hushed tones; everyone wondering where the (unofficial) Surfer of the Year was. For a second there, we at Astrodeck even thought that maybe Nathan ducked out of the whole scene and just decided to go back home to hang with his dogs Mr. Buzz and Boopers. Sometimes it seems like surfing death-defying beastly waves comes easier for Nate rather than being publically acknowledged by his friends, peers and fans.

As Chevy Metal heckled Nathan for missing out on receiving the award - funny and awkward - and Herbie got up on stage as a last-ditch effort to buy some time (”Where are you, Nathan?”), the audience erupted into cheers as Nathan finally made his way through the congratulatory crowd and all their pats on the back.

Up on deck, in front of the masses, as he hugged his proud pops, Nathan was at a loss for words, but still in his typical humble mode as he rattled off his genuine gratefulness to those who mattered.

And thus kicked-off the Billabong XXL Awards…

A big round of applause to everyone who was nominated and to everyone who won. And, of course, we’re especially proud of Nathan. Way to go, Nate!!!

SONY XPERIA “RIDE OF THE YEAR”

WINNER: NATHAN FLETCHER/$50,000 (San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011. Video by Simon Saffigna/$5,000)

SECOND PLACE: RYAN HIPWOOD/$5,000 (Gold Coast, Australia) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on July 12, 2011.

THIRD PLACE: GREG LONG/$1,500 (San Clemente, CA, USA) at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on May 19, 2011.

FOURTH PLACE: JEFF ROWLEY/$1,500 (Torquay, Victoria, Australia) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 30, 2012.

FIFTH PLACE: GARRETT MCNAMARA/$1,500 (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal on November 1, 2011.

Billabong XXL 2012: The start of the night.

Sunny Garcia

Makua Rothman and Mickey Nielsen

Nathan on the big screen.

Chevy Metal (or Foo Fighters. Kinda.)

Greg "Da Bull" Noll and a couple of Playboy Playmates.

The always charming Greg Long.

Not sure who the lady is. But that's Tony Hawk... as if you didn't know.

Bruce Irons, Keala Kennelly, and Christian Fletcher

And the winner is...

All these guys had a spectacular year!

Father and son: A proud moment.

Nathan Fletcher keeps going and going and...

Doesn’t look like the Nathan spotlight is going to fade any time soon. From international to national to local coverage, and even buzz around the water cooler, Nathan’s been the talk out of everyone’s mouth.

So why should Men’s Health be excluded?

The following is a link to a recent interview Nathan did with the mag. Read and enjoy.

http://news.menshealth.com/reach-new-heights/2012/01/04/?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-MensHealth-_-Content-MHNews-_-BiggestWaveEver

Last night at the Surfer Poll Awards - among an elite list of nominees that included Bruce Irons, Mark Healey, Dean Morrison, and Laurie Towner - Nathan beat the competition to win the prestigious “Heavy Water” Award.

We are so proud of you, Nathan. And we love you, too.

View the link to watch the nominated clips and Nathan’s acceptance speech.

http://www.surfermag.com/2011surferpoll/heavywater-nathanfletcher

Nathan stopped by for quick little interview with the people over at SME Live.

Click (or cut/paste) the link to see what it’s about:

http://smelive.com/News/Article/Nathan-Fletcher

Nathan Fletcher recently contributed to a pictorial featured on Surfline about his trip to Micronesia with brothers Nathan and Ivan Florence. Check out the link, and read the captions that Nathan wrote himself. And the pics are pretty killer, too.

Nathan Florence getting shacked. And, hmmm, is that Astrodeck we see on his board? (Photo by Daniel Russo)

(If you can’t click onto the link directly, just copy and paste.)

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/micronesia-barrelfest_55030/