Brazilian · Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil · Born 27 October 1992Brazilian surfer and second-generation Championship Tour competitor from Recife, son of 1988 world amateur champion Fabio Gouveia.
Born in Recife, Pernambuco, on 27 October 1992, Ian Gouveia is the son of Fabio Gouveia, the 1988 world amateur champion and the first Brazilian to win a Championship Tour event, in 1991, on his way to finishing fifth in the world. Ian inherited his father's explosive style and added a modern aerial arsenal, spending three seasons grinding the Qualifying Series from 2013 with a highest ranking of 81st. Gouveia's breakthrough came in 2016, when added strength and power caught the attention of judges, culminating in an inspired run at the Pipeline Masters where he beat Joel Parkinson, Matt Wilkinson and Julian Wilson to qualify for the 2017 Championship Tour, matching families like the Hos and Andinos as a second-generation tour star. Gouveia competed on the Championship Tour through 2018 before dropping back to the Qualifying Series, spending five years trying to requalify. He finally returned to the tour in 2024 after a strong Challenger Series campaign, sealing his return with a ninth-place finish at the U.S. Open in Huntington Beach without needing to travel to the season's final qualifying events. Gouveia won the Brazilian national title in 2020 and remains a popular and respected competitor known for his goofyfoot power surfing, continuing to compete on tour into the mid-2020s.
Following his father Fabio Gouveia as a second-generation Brazilian Championship Tour surfer
How They Played
Explosive goofyfoot power surfing with a strong modern aerial repertoire
Lasting Impact
One of Brazil's respected modern professionals and part of a notable surfing family
Brazilian Athletes