Maz Quinn is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 surfer

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

. A four-time winner of New Zealand's national surfing championships, and winner of the 1996 Billabong Pro-Junior Series, Quinn is regarded as one of the country's foremost surfers.

Quinn was born in Hamilton

Hamilton, New Zealand

Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...

, but his family moved to Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand

-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...

 when he was two years old. He was educated at Elgin Primary School, Gisborne Intermediate

Gisborne Intermediate

Gisborne Intermediate School is a co-ed intermediate school in Gisborne, New Zealand.-School organization:Gisborne Intermediate School is divided into four education teams. They each have their own individual colour and are named after local Gisborne rivers. The teams are: Taruheru , Waipoa ,...

 and Gisborne Boys' High School

Gisborne Boys' High School

Gisborne Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school situated in Gisborne, New Zealand that was originally founded as a Co-Ed school in 1909 and was known as Gisborne High School. In 1956 the school became Gisborne Boys High School when the original school was split into two single-sex...

. Always an enthusiastic surfer, his passion for the sport increased when the family moved to the small community of Wainui Beach

Wainui Beach

Wainui Beach is a small settlement on the coast of New Zealand's North Island, located just to the north of Tuaheni Point, some 8 km to the east of Gisborne, to which it is linked by State Highway 35. As of the 2006 census, Wainui Beach had a usually-resident population of 1,515.The beach is...

 when he was a teenager. Quinn comes from a surfing family - his younger brother Jay and sister Holly have both won national titles, his mother is an advocate for women’s surfing and his father was a national official.

During the 1990s, Quinn took part in the World Qualifying Series, a lower-ranked pro tour which enables surfers to attempt to qualify for the elite World Championship Tour. In 1999 Maz became the first New Zealander to win a WQS event and in 2001 he became the first New Zealander ever to qualify for the World Championship Tour, in doing so becoming one of the world's top 44 ranked male surfers.

In 2009, Quinn helped to stage the Quiksilver Maz Quinn King of the Groms, a national surfing event for youth.