Joe Surf: Catching waves with the world’s finest
Have you ever gone to Mile Square Park, gotten into a baseball or softball game and found yourself playing in the outfield alongside Mike Trout?
Me neither.
What about going to the Huntington City Gym and playing a pickup basketball game and finding yourself getting posted up by LeBron James?
Not gonna happen.
Surfing, though, is different.
If you go to the right place at the right time, you can surf alongside the best in the world. And I’m not talking about that dude who thinks he’s the best; I’m talking about the best in the world.
Tuesday was that day for a trio of Huntington Beach groms — Cade Haakenson, Kade Ayres and Luke Guinaldo — as well as a handful of other clever surfers who picked the perfect time to stargaze.
They held a media session Tuesday in advance of the Hurley Pro/Swatch Women’s Pro at Lower Trestles, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday.
For the men, the Hurley Pro is the eighth contest in the World Surf League’s (WSL) 11-contest World Championship Tour (WCT). It’s the only men’s WCT contest held on the U.S. mainland. For the women, the Swatch Women’s Pro is contest No. 7 of the 10-event WCT season.
From about 9:30 a.m. to noon, the H.B. groms battled for waves with current No. 1 in the world John John Florence, last year’s men’s world champion Adriano de Souza, last year’s women’s world champ Carissa Moore, Brazilian superstars Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina, Bethany Hamilton, and the list goes on.
“Filipe Toledo snaked my wave,” Guinaldo said with a tinge of pride after getting out of the water.
The boys chit-chatted on the drive all the way home, about ‘“how Bethany catches waves paddling with one arm,” or “how fast Gabriel Medina surfs” or “how tall John John is.” (He’s 6 feet 1).
The waves were OK, not great, but it was one of those days when it didn’t matter all that much. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or at least, until next year’s Hurley Pro media session.
John John is No. 1 No. 1
Florence finished second to Kelly Slater in the last WCT contest held in Tahiti a couple weeks ago, and it was enough to vault him into the world’s No. 1 spot for the first time in his young career.
He’s had a little while to let it all sink in and, at the wise old age of 23, Florence said the No. 1 ranking won’t change anything in his approach.
“That’s what I’ve been able to learn this year, is not to let it change anything, not to let the pressure come on, not to let anyone say anything that bothers me,” he said. “I’ve been able to grasp that really well so I feel good coming into this event and just not thinking about the yellow (leader’s) jersey. Keep on my same routine and not change anything because what I’m doing is working.”
Slater gave Florence the ultimate compliment after their finals heat in Tahiti, calling Florence his “favorite surfer,” and noting that many other pros consider Florence their favorite.
“I don’t know why they think that but it makes me feel great,” Florence said. “I’m super honored for Kelly to say that, he’s the best surfer of all time and so I’m just doing my thing and having fun, enjoying surfing.”
Welcome back, Brett
Brett Simpson will join Kanoa Igarashi as Huntington Beach’s two representatives in the Hurley Pro, Simpson winning a wild-card entry and Igarashi well into his rookie season on the WCT.
The two found themselves matched up against each other last week in the Pantin Classic Galicia Pro in Spain, a Qualifying Series contest worth a big 6,000 points to the winner.
Igarashi, 18, not only won the heat, he went on to win the contest, one of the biggest contest victories of his career.
Simpson placed fourth in the quarterfinal heat and was eliminated, finishing an equal-13th.
“It was a good event for me, but I’m obviously disappointed about not going farther,” Simpson said. “We had a severe fog delay, and they had to change the format. They went from man-on-man to four-man heats, which is always a bit more of a crapshoot. Though I had some decent heats and was surfing well.”
In the Hurley Pro, Simpson was matched up against Florence and Australia’s Davey Cathels in his Round 1 heat.
“Yeah, being a wild-card that’s how it works,” Simpson said about being stuck with the No. 1-ranked Florence in his Round 1 heat. “You ultimately get the top seeds and you have to try to find a way to shake up the title race. I’m excited being in this position and this opportunity.”
Igarashi was up against Julian Wilson and Ryan Callinan, both of Australia, in his Round 1 heat.
Court is back in session
Sage Hill School graduate Courtney Conlogue finished second in the world last year, and she’s currently ranked No. 2. She’s potentially on the precipice of winning a world title, but figured she needed to tweak things just a little.
With a solid month off between the last contest — the U.S. Open of Surfing — and the Swatch Women’s Pro, Conlogue thought a mental break would be beneficial.
She took a trip to Long Island, N.Y., then went down south and visited Cuba. She said she didn’t surf at all for two weeks.
“For me, I like to switch off, then switch back on,” she said. “I think last year I was on the whole season and it was a bit exhausting. I always crave surfing, but I wanted to make sure I came back really hungry just wanting to win, win heats.
“I’ve had the switch flipped on for a bit now, just kind of kindling the fire, waiting to explode.”
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JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.