Connelly’s Move to Longboard Paying Off So Far at U.S. Open

Kevin Connelly was 10 when learned how to surf on a shortboard, which offered everything he needed in the water: speed, maneuverability and lightness.

Connelly has switched his allegiance, however.

Connelly, 24, of Pacific Beach, advanced to the second round of longboarding after winning his first heat Monday, the first day of the Shockwave U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

Only three months ago, Connelly won the longboard title at the Surfbout at Lower Trestles.

When asked about his conversion, Connelly could only shake his head.

“I can’t really explain it,” said Connelly, who still rides a shortboard on occasion. “It’s like . . . you’re at one with the wave. You’re riding the board . . . not the wave.”

Connelly said it was a 1959 longboard that changed his outlook. “It weighed 26 pounds and was a classic board,” said Connelly, sounding more like a preacher than a surfer. “And when you were on [that board], there was no other feeling like it.”

Connelly shapes his own boards, and, in fact, has his own company, which manufactures and sells longboards.

“I was in high school at the time, and I was torn between baseball or learning how to shape surfboards,” Connelly said. “I ended up learning about shaping from one of the greats, Skip Frye in Pacific Beach.”

Connelly said Frye, who was about 50 at the time, was from the old school of shaping, and was instrumental in shaping his career. But aside from the technical aspects he learned, Connelly said Frye taught him other things.

“He gave me a positive mentality for life,” Connelly said.

Connelly said this outlook was particularly helpful the last two years while he was recuperating from a knee injury he suffered while riding a skateboard.

“It happened December 1996,” Connelly said. “I was downhill skateboarding when a car pulled in front of me. I was right behind him. He turned a different direction and I had to turn the other way. I caught the gravel and went flying. My knee was twisted around and almost stuck in my mouth.”

Connelly said he couldn’t surf until 1998.

“I was going crazy during that time. I had to go through a lot of therapy for my knee. So when I finally got back into surfing, I was grateful I could even stand on a board.”

Connelly surfs Thursday and will have a tough heat as he faces former world champion Geoff Moysa, Israel Paskowitz and Grant Gold.

Notes

Micah Byrne, from Huntington Beach, advanced to the second round of the Junior Pro event. Byrne will surf again today. . . . The forecast for the week looks good as the Surfline Wavetrak reports that a southwest swell will continue to build through Saturday with waves peaking from four to seven feet. . . . Surfing continues on the south side of the Pier today with the first, second and third rounds of the men’s surfing trials. The second round of the Billabong Junior trials also continues.