Chasing a Dream

Ryan Simmons made a brief stop at home in Seal Beach last week before heading to the North Shore of Oahu for the final two World Qualifying Series surf contests of the year.

Kick back and enjoy a respite from the frenetic pace? Hardly.

His focus, as has been the case for much of the last six years, never wavered from The Chase.

“I asked him what he wanted for Christmas,” said his mother, Mary, “and he said, ‘I can’t even think about that now, I have to focus on Hawaii.’ ”

Simmons, 26, began his career as a professional surfer shortly after his graduation from Los Alamitos High in 1992. Twice, he has come close to qualifying for the World Championship Tour--pro surfing’s major leagues--and this year may be his best shot. A quarterfinal appearance or better in either the G-Shock Hawaiian Pro, currently under way at Haleiwa’s Ali’i Beach Park, or the Rip Curl Cup, which begins Nov. 24 at Sunset Beach, would probably earn him a spot among the world’s elite 44 on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ 2001 tour.

“For six years, I’ve been chasing those points,” he said. “In ‘96, I came up five guys short of making it. And I was 17th last year before I had a couple of tough breaks at the end of the year. This year, I just see it happening.”

He edged ever closer Wednesday, finishing second to advance out of his Round of 64 heat in seven- to nine-foot surf. A first- or second-place finish in the next round and he would be in the quarterfinals.

The top 28 surfers on the WCT automatically qualify for the tour next year. The top 16 on the WQS--discounting those who surfed on both tours and have already qualified through the WCT--move up. This year, it appears the final qualifier will be ranked either No. 19 or 20 on the WQS. Simmons is ranked 22nd going into the event at Haleiwa.

The next few weeks could mean the realization of a dream Simmons has clung to since he was 12, but it certainly won’t be the end of that dream if he doesn’t qualify.

“I plan to do this until I’m 33 or 34 because I’m just getting better every year,” he said. “If I don’t make it this year, I’ll be back on the ‘QS next year with all cylinders firing.

“I mean, I’m easily among the top 10 or so best surfers from the U.S. [mainland]. I’ve made it at least to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open four out of the last five years, but nobody has ever heard of me.

“A few years ago I had a problem with it. I really wanted fame and success, but I’ve learned a lot about myself since then. I’ve gained a lot of perspective over the years.”

Work Comes in Waves

Living good is one thing--traveling the globe to ride the best waves on the planet often in lush, exotic settings beats most forms of labor--but making a good living is entirely another. Simmons says he will spend $18,000 to $20,000 on travel expenses this year. So far, he has won $15,000 in prize money. Add the modest salary he makes from his sponsors--firms such as fledgling Huntington Beach surf-wear manufacturer Mindless Reaction--and he’s hoping to hit the $30,000 mark in earnings this year.

“The big surf companies in America seem to want one big name that they’re willing to pay like $80,000 a year and then have some other team surfers they’ll give like $200 a month,” Simmons said. “It doesn’t make sense to me that they wouldn’t rather have three top guys at like $30,000, but that’s the way it is right now.”

So maybe Simmons, who has made $75,775 in six years on the WQS circuit, can keep his savings in a mayonnaise jar, but he would rather stay in The Chase than build a stock portfolio.

“I guess every parent would like their children to go to college and Ryan is such a bright kid,” Mary Simmons said. “But as long as he’s doing something that makes him happy and supporting himself, we’re happy for him.”

Surfers such as Oxnard’s Tim Curran and Hawaii’s Andy Irons exploded on the surf scene as teenagers and now have triple-figure sponsor salaries to rely on. Simmons has had to take another route, a trek a less-determined competitor might not believe is worth the time or effort.

Simmons was a superstar as a junior and in 1992 he just missed amateur surfing’s Triple Crown. He was the National Scholastic Surfing Assn.’s Open Men’s season champion, Explorer Men’s national champion and Open Men’s national runner-up.

Victories have been considerably harder to come by while progressing up the ranks of pro surfing, so Simmons has fallen back on what he does best: grind out the results.

“I worked with Ryan a few years ago when he was sponsored by a firm I was working for at the time,” said Bill Sharp, publisher of Costa Mesa-based Surf News. “We’d go to the North Shore for a photo shoot and he took everything very seriously. He was the first guy in the water and the last one out.

“He was great to be around, no obnoxious surf superstar chip on his shoulder like so many of those guys, and he was willing to spend time in the water really concentrating on getting better.”

Fellow WQS competitor and traveling companion David Pinto, a graduate of Capistrano Valley High, says the most enviable aspect of Simmons’ surfing is his consistency.

“We go to Europe this year and first he makes the semis in England, then another semis in France. Most guys have a good result then a few bad ones, but Ryan just seems to always know what it takes to make it through a heat.

“And he’s versatile too, really good in small waves and big waves.”

A Smart Surfer?

Simmons may look like a teenager, but he’s a grizzled veteran when it comes to competing in the waves. And he’s reached the point where his intellect may be a bigger asset than balance or coordination.

“You have to have a plan and stay focused, but you also have to let it happen,” he said. “You know, be in the moment or whatever you want to call it. I’ve found that if I just stand up, go to the bottom and then go to the top instead of trying to think three maneuvers down the line, the next thing you know, you’re in the quarters or semis. When you just let it happen, that’s when you do your best stuff.

“The other big thing is to eliminate mistakes. I’m not saying I’m the most intelligent guy out there, but you see so many guys who lose the same way over and over. You’ve got to be a smart competitor to survive, know when to be conservative because you only need a five or six, or take risks and go for it when you need a high score.”

Simmons, who started surfing when he was 5 with his father, Ed, a longtime Long Beach lifeguard, persuaded his parents to let him quit his soccer, swimming and baseball teams to concentrate on surfing when he was in the fourth grade.

He’ll be calling on all his experience and using all his senses over the next month as he tries to secure his lifelong goal in the constantly shifting North Shore conditions during the first two events of the Vans Triple Crown, which concludes with the Mountain Dew Pipeline Masters WCT event in December.

“This is my sixth year of competing in these events, so I feel pretty comfortable at both spots,” he said. “But Haleiwa is a very tricky wave and Sunset is like a three-football-fields wide arena. I’ve been coming to Hawaii for 10 winters and I’ve spent a lot of time watching the waves. And when respected locals talk about lineup points, where to be and where not to be when a set comes in certain conditions, I always keep my ears open.”

Simmons is well aware that good fortune--in the form of being in the right spot at the right time to catch a wave with great scoring potential--often separates winners from losers in this sport. But he’s only concerning himself with the things over which he has control: Preparation. Awareness. Confidence. Relaxation.

“I’m just trying to stay calm and think about where my mind was when I did well,” he said. “When you stress over things, you get tense and you can’t surf well unless you’re relaxed.”

Simmons clearly has devoted his life to pro surfing, but he’s also an avid golfer who has lowered his handicap to six on occasion. He felt like he was spending too much time on the course and it was hurting his surfing, so he has backed off some. He did, however, bring a few clubs with him to Hawaii and spent some time at a range earlier this week.

“Hitting balls relaxes me and reminds me that in surfing, just like golf, you do your best when your mind is clear,” he said.

How was he hitting the ball?

“Pure,” he says.

If he can maintain that frame of mind every time he hits the waves over the next few weeks, The Chase may finally end.