The Kids Are All Right
Young OC surfers Courtney Conlogue and Brett Simpson have had wild rides in the year since their historic victories at the 2009 U.S. Open of Surfing.
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| Watch It Catch a Wave :: Check out live webcasts of the U.S. Open, and event schedules, including the men's and women's finals Saturday, August 7 and Sunday, August 8, 2010. :: usopenofsurfing.com Surf-umentary :: To learn more about the evolution of OC surf culture, don't miss the documentary, Living it Forever, which premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival. DVDs are now available for purchase. :: livingitforeverthemovie.com Meet and Greet :: See the winners of the Orange County Surfer of the Year contest at an awards ceremony at the Surfers Hall of Fame at Huntington Surf and Sport on Friday, August 6. :: orangecounty.com |
Surfing history was carved in front of a sun-saturated multitude along Huntington Beach Pier on the first August weekend of 2009. A breathtaking feeling was palpable in the crowd. And if there was just one thought everybody shared, it was: “Finally!”
The U.S. Open of Surfing, presented by Hurley, Nike 6.0 and Converse, is the world’s biggest surf contest with over 500 surfers from 11 countries, and the 2009 event was the best yet, largely because for the first time, the two faces on the winner’s stand were more than familiar. In fact, they were locals who’d grown up at the pier. This was their U.S. Open and more than ever, this was Orange County’s U.S. Open. But however sweet their moment was in front of family and friends, media and local fans, it also set them up for impossibly high expectations.
Courtney Conlogue was the friendly, 16-year-old, freckle-faced girl from Santa Ana who had already made a name for herself at the event in 2007 when she was the youngest surfer to reach a U.S. Open semifinal. She defeated defending event champ Malia Manuel of Hawaii in the best waves anyone could remember for a final.
Brett Simpson was the 24-year-old rising star, son of a former Los Angeles Ram, and grew up in Garden Grove. He’d been the hot shot acrobatic surfer fans could follow in the magazines but also the frustratingly erratic competitor, with a glimpse of greatness on display as he easily vanquished former world champ Mick Fanning of Australia. The waves were equally as good.
In the year since the event, each has faced ups and downs on their path. Each comes from a tight-knit and athletic family. Each wants to conquer the world, but first they return to the U.S. Open surfing in their own shadow.
“We as a family achieved that goal,” Conlogue says of her victory. “My brother, my sister, my mom, my dad. We all won that together.”
Simpson’s dad got himself involved a bit too, running waist deep into the water as his son returned to shore for a spectacular bear hug tackle. “Opportunities that big only come around every so often and for my Dad to be a part of it meant everything,” Simpson says.
Unfortunately, Simpson couldn’t ride the momentum. To heal a nagging ankle injury, he shut down competing and stayed out of the water for a month. Meanwhile, Conlogue had a duty to her country. As the longest standing member of the USA surf team, she couldn’t miss the ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica just a week later. She won the women’s gold medal and helped lead the team to their first gold medal in 13 years.
For Conlogue, there was an imperative. “I didn’t want people to say ‘She just got lucky at the Open.’ I needed to perform my best and get to the final.”
Simpson, who had planned to join the team, had to sit at home and do the right thing for his body first. “I just tried to bring those good feelings when I did get back [into competition] and it got me to where I wanted to be.”
The combination of the U.S. Open victory and pent up energy seemed to focus the young surfer and he did well enough on the European and Hawaiian legs of the qualifying tour to move up to the Men’s World Tour in December 2009. Despite his day on the winner’s stand in Huntington Beach, this was still a bigger dream fulfilled.
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After Conlogue tore through a junior’s contest en route to her third consecutive victory and a summer vacation for the ages, there would be only senior year ahead. She might have seemed downright bulletproof in the water, but she was just another student at Sage Hill School.
“I called it my break,” Conlogue chuckles. “Even though I was still staying up until 1 a.m. studying. School helped strengthen my brain and high school is something you can’t duplicate.”
By spring of this year, Conlogue was beginning to travel for women’s contests during the school year. She was going to officially turn pro after graduation, but her full-time work (Conlogue was only a part-time competitor until this year) had already begun. “My friends joked I had the worst case of senioritis because I was traveling too. Every year my parents give me one thing to work on; this year it’s balance. I think it’s the thing that’s helped me not burn out.”
She did more than survive, she continued to succeed. Conlogue reached the quarterfinals of events in France and Portugal, putting her in good position in the women’s world ratings before she had even put on her cap and gown.
Simpson meanwhile, became a newly christened member of the men’s so called “Dream Tour.” With it came the drubbing young surfers usually take in the first season. Events in Australia and Brazil were disappointing for him. But Simpson wisely sees a bigger picture. “I just haven’t done the hard work yet,” he says. “It will turn around soon.”
The key to victory at the U.S. Open of Surfing is partly based on how you deal with the noise, in the water and out. With interviews, autograph signings, after-parties, huge crowds, and the pier’s ever-changing sandbar, each will have to rely once again on their families to keep them focused. And they both know this year’s contest is different than perhaps any other will ever be.
“Now I’m the target,” Conlogue says. The teen has spent a lot of time lately trying to define her personal style in the water. That is, perfecting certain trademark techniques that will continue to get her big scores from the judges. “I’ll just put it down in that 20-minute period for the judges. There’s only so much you can do. I have to go with no expectations. And work really hard.”
Simpson and Conlogue remain two of California’s better hopes for a return to surfing greatness in the professional ranks. But before they can conquer the world, the task they each have before them is to conquer impossible expectations.
