Joe Surf: Igarashi earns spot in championship tour

Kanoa Igarashi did it.

This summer at the U.S. Open, I asked him about his goals. “Qualifying for the [World Surf League’s] World Championship Tour, and becoming world champion.”

Just 17 at the time, Igarashi’s aspirations might have seemed a little far-fetched.

They weren’t.

Igarashi, who turned 18 on Oct. 1, has checked the box on his first goal. With his first-place finish at the Qualifying Series’ Mahalo Surf Eco Festival in Brazil last weekend, he has guaranteed a spot on next year’s championship tour.

“I can’t believe what I’m feeling, this is amazing,” Igarashi said from the podium after winning the event. “It’s the biggest win in my life and the best year of my life. I can’t believe it, I’m so happy. Things are a lot better for me now. There’s a lot less pressure and less events, so I don’t have to worry as much anymore.”

The win was his second on the qualifying series this season — he also won the Vans Pro Virginia in August. The latest win moved him to No. 5 in the series rankings, with the top 10 qualifying for next year’s world tour. There are four qualifying contests remaining this year.

Igarashi’s qualifying guarantees Huntington Beach will have at least one representative on the tour. Huntington has been represented on the tour since 2010 with Brett Simpson.

Simpson, though, has had a rough season, and until recently, it looked like he would lose his spot.

He has spent the season trying to figure things out, trying to overcome poor wave selection and quite simply, some bad luck. This is his sixth year on the world tour, so falling out of that exclusive club would be a big blow.

But Simpson, a two-time U.S. Open of Surfing champion, has found his stoke of late. He finished equal-13th at the Quiksilver Pro France in early October. It wasn’t the greatest finish in the world, but he did advance in his Round 1 heat by beating 11-time world champ Kelly Slater.

His big breakthrough came in the most recent contest, the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal that was completed just last week. He reached the semifinals and finished an equal-third.

Along the way he had victories over two former world champs — Australia’s Joel Parkinson and Slater again. His third-place finish bumped him up eight spots in the world rankings to No. 26.

In order to qualify for next season’s world championship tour, he needs to finish in the top 22, or hope for one of two wild-card selections.

“Just believing in myself more and not second guessing,” Simpson said when asked what has fueled his resurgence. “Sometimes I tend to overthink situations rather than reacting and that has created a lot of poor decisions. Where the last few events I just rode the waves I wanted and liked and it paid off.”

Now it comes down to one final event on the tour — the Billabong Pipe Masters at the Banzai Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu starting Dec. 8. While Mick Fanning, Adriano de Souza and Felipe Toledo will be battling it out for the world championship, Simpson will be battling to keep his spot on the world tour for next year.

“Yeah I’m very excited I’ve given myself a chance,” Simpson said. “That’s really all I could have asked for and now I’m focused on Pipeline and getting some great barrels.’’

With the contest still a month away, Simpson, 30, plans to get as prepared as possible.

“I’m going to just keep training physically and get my body as strong as possible to endure the beatings [the Pipeline wave] can hand out,” he said. “After the long Europe leg I’m just going to take a little time out of the water and get my body back to 100%.

“It takes a toll on the road, different beds and whatnot all add up and it’s very tiring. So I’m gonna regroup, get back to feeling well and get in the pool and swim a lot and just get some good cardio going. Wave-wise just keep an eye on swells and with Hawaii not being too far maybe sneak over for a swell but we’ll see.”

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.