In The Pipeline:

“Hey all, been outta the water the last few weeks rehabbing my bad ankle! It’s been an ongoing thing for me the last month or so and I felt like it was time to take care of my body and get back to 100%! It’s always tough missing events but I will be coming back fired up!! Been getting in the water as of late and gearing up for the Hurley Pro at Trestles startin’ the 13th! Can’t wait!!!”

So reads the latest post on Brett Simpson’s blog at www.simplysimpo.com.

And as if you need to know who Brett Simpson is, well, he’s the young (24) local who claimed the Assn. of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing over former ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta, Australia), before a huge hometown crowd, netting surfing’s biggest victory purse ever — $100,000 — in the process.

As Surfersvillage.com wrote in July: “An event that will go down in surfing history … an unprecedented number of elite ASP Dream Tour competitors in attendance as well as the biggest winner’s prize in surfing history. The young local’s emphatic victory in front of the hundreds of thousands on the beach provided the storybook ending and vaulted the event to unprecedented heights.”

No wonder it’s been so hard to get a hold of this kid. Finally, though, we managed to connect as I wanted to speak with Simpson for the column, After all, it isn’t every day an athlete scores this big on his home turf, and given how much he’ll be traveling the world, Surf City may just have a new ambassador — and I thought you all might enjoy an interview with him.

What did the victory feel like, to surf here so much as a young person?

You always look at those as your dreams; you never know if they’ll come true but it’s what you strive for. If there was one event I could ever win, this would be the one. It’s local, but it’s one of the biggest events in America. I was like, “Those are my waves, my territory,” and that made it really special.

Will you now always be compared to this competition?

Definitely. Even if I do well on the tour after this, it will be one of the most memorable events of my career. There’s something about it being my first big one, but still the fact that I come from here made it really special.

How does your life change in the short term after something like this? Do people treat you different?

It’s definitely different. Like on Facebook, I had a ton of people I don’t know all of a sudden saying congrats and going downtown and the beach, people start to recognize me a bit more. It’s eye opening but at the same time you’ve gotta realize how you got there and never let it get in your way. You can’t get sucked into thinking you’re big and bad. At this moment, I don’t want to think it’s the biggest moment in my life because I have a lot of surfing left to do, but that said I want to enjoy the moment, especially here in town.

What are your favorite spots in town? What’s your perfect day in Huntington Beach?

For me it’d be surf, hang out, and head to a place called Sushi on Fire for dinner with my girlfriend, Danielle. Pretty simple. I love everything they have there, but I like a lot of the Mexican places in town, too.

Did your dad give you any special advice leading up to the event? [Brett’s father, Bill, was a second-round pick in the 1974 NFL draft and spent five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, as part of a nine-year career.]

He’s always been my biggest motivator. He knows when I’m down or when things aren’t going right — he’s my father and I’ve always been able to go to him and he helps me work things out. He told me he knew I could do this, he was always right there and when it happened, I think he was more stoked than I was.

How’d you get into surfing, given that nobody else in your family surfs?

I had a neighbor who surfed, and when I was 11 or 12 on a summer day I went with him and right after that I begged my parents for a surfboard for Christmas. After that I just surfed as much I could. After school, I’d surf until dark. Another friend got me into competing, which I really enjoyed, too.

Where do you go from here?

I’m just going to keep trying to stay confident and put up good showings, one day at a time, one tournament at a time and try to ride some of this momentum.

I head to Brazil in early October for a tournament so hopefully I’ll do well there. Another goal I have is to try and go for Rookie of the Year. I think I can do that, again, as long as I stay relaxed and focused. I also want to say how thankful I am for my sponsors, Hurley, Etnies, Dragon Sunglasses and of course Hamish Graham in San Clemente who makes my boards. My team is awesome and they make a lot of this possible.

Keep your eye on this kid. He’s got the sort of attitude that keeps one in the game for a long time and, as he proved here in July, he’s got the talent, too.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 14 books, including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at chris@chrisepting.com .