Joe Surf: A big week for Igarashi
For a competitive surfer, the World Surf League’s (WSL) World Championship Tour (WCT) is the ultimate. It is the major leagues of surfing, so to speak.
But it is more than that. Consider there are 1,696 players on a roster in the NFL, 750 players on a roster in Major League Baseball, and 450 players on a roster in the NBA.
In the WCT, there are 34 surfers on tour each year, with no guarantee they’ll be on the tour the next year. Each year of competition is in essence a qualifier for the following season.
And that’s what makes these last couple months of the surfing season so important for Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi.
Igarashi qualified for this season’s WCT by doing one of the things required to join the ranks of the world’s best. He ranked No. 7 on the Qualifying Series in 2015, which is basically the “Triple-A” circuit for pro surfing, or one step below the WCT.
That got him into the WCT this year as the youngest on tour at 18, because the top 10 on the QS qualify for the following season’s WCT. They join the top 22 on that season’s WCT. Two wild cards are also selected, usually given to highly regarded surfers who missed much of the season because of an injury, bringing the total to 34.
This season, since he is on the WCT, Igarashi has two avenues of requalifying — finishing in the top 22 on the WCT, or top 10 of QS. Going into the final WCT contest at Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu next month, Igarashi ranks 24th.
On the QS, Igarashi is No. 8, so he will continue to surf in two or three of the remaining QS contests. He’s currently in Brazil surfing in the Hang Loose Pro, and he won his first heat earlier this week.
Of the 34 surfers on the WCT this season, only five are from the mainland United States, four of those from California, including Igarashi, Kolohe Andino (San Clemente), Conner Coffin (Santa Barbara) and Nat Young (Santa Cruz). Florida’s Kelly Slater is the remaining U.S. mainlander.
BRETT STILL CHARGING
Huntington Beach has had a surfer in the WCT in each of the past seven seasons; Igarashi this season and Brett Simpson for six consecutive seasons from 2010-15.
Simpson fell off the tour for this season but is trying to work his way back. He currently ranks No. 31 on the QS, but there are two 10,000-point contests remaining that could propel him into contention if he places high.
“I feel like I have been surfing well,” Simpson said via email from Brazil, where he was competing along with Igarashi in the Hang Loose Pro. “I had a great few weeks at home and have some really good boards from [shaper] Tim Stamps.
“I’m pleased to be in 31st but know what I’m capable of and still striving to get back on tour. I got three big chances coming up and need to make all of them count for me to accomplish my goal.”
Simpson, however, finished fourth in his first heat and was eliminated at the Hang Loose Pro. From Brazil, Simpson will go to Hawaii to surf in two QS contests — the Hawaiian Pro at Alii Beach on Oahu, and the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach on Oahu.
There are a number of locals surfing in the HIC Pro Sunset Beach, a QS event currently taking place on Oahu, including 16-year-old Tyler Gunter of Newport Beach, Huntington’s Brad Ettinger, Tim Reyes and Derek Peters, and Cole Houshmand of San Clemente.
NEW WORLD CHAMP
Congrats to John John Florence, who clinched his first world title last month when he won the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal, taking some drama out of the final WCT contest of the year next month at Pipeline.
The win by Florence, who just turned 24, also seemed to inspire Kelly Slater. Slater, an 11-time world champion who will turn 45 in February, announced after Florence’s win that he will compete on the WCT one more year in an effort to get that 12th world title.
“I’m going to take one more stab at a title next year and really try to put a year together,” Slater told worldsurfleague.com. “I’m pretty inspired by what panned out this year in the back half. So I’m going to take these next four months, get my body together, and get my motivation and my boards and everything right and see if I can really put together a focused year.”
Besides his 11 titles, Slater, who currently ranks No. 9 in the world, also has finished No. 2 three times and No. 3 twice.
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JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.